Sacramento Mayor & Government Professor at Sacramento State
09/3/1939 -11/7/1999
As a Sacramento activist mayor, community activist, city council member, mayor, and professor Joe Serna Jr. serves as a role model for others to follow. Serna’s greatest contribution to the University as a professor includes serving as a member of the CSUS Advisory Board, CSUS’s Ambassador Project, CSUS Library, John Emerson Moss Collection Steering Committee, and the Japanese American Collection Steering Committee. He also served on the fundraising committee for the CSUS Alumni House, 2000 Olympic Trials, and helped organize the tribute dinner for retiring Assemblyman Phil Isenberg in 1997 which raised 100,000 to benefit the Government Department. Professor Joe Serna demonstrated extraordinary abilities in different settings, impacting the University on multiple levels.
Five Interesting Facts about Joe Serna Jr.
- Joe Serna Jr. earned a bachelor of arts degree in Social Science/Government from Sacramento State in 1966.
- Serna worked as a part-time instructor in the government and ethnic studies department at Sacramento State in 1969. Then he became a professor and taught at Sac State for 30 years, with the exception of a brief absence from 1975 to 1977. He received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1991.
- Elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1982, elected mayor in 1992, and re-elected in 1966.
- Joe Serna Jr. was driven to make a difference for the underserved, so he joined the United Farm Workers. Serna had the privilege of working with Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement in California.
- The Serna Center at Sacramento State University is dedicated to the work and vision of former Sacramento mayor and government professor Joe Serna Jr. The Serna Center provides opportunities for people from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds to learn about public policy and political knowledge, activism and engagement, student access and excellence, and the benefits of community service
Learn more about Joe Serna Jr. by visiting the Online Archives of California and The Donald & Beverly Gerth Special Collections & University Archives. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3d5nd81z/?query=Joe+Serna
