CAS alumna celebrates more than 60 years of impact at USF

By Kellie Britch, College of Arts and Sciences

There’s no doubt that Liana Fernandez Fox, a fourth generation Tampanian, professor emeritus and proud alum of the USF College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education, has shaped the university’s past, present and future. Her story at USF officially started when she began classes in 1964, but her future opened up the same day the university first opened its doors. 

“I was the oldest in my Cuban-Sicilian family, the first to go to college and a girl, so I was not going to be allowed to leave Tampa,” Fox said. “Before USF opened, my only other option was the University of Tampa, which was very expensive comparatively. If it weren’t for USF officially opening its doors four years before I graduated high school, I likely wouldn’t have gone to college at all. 

“Congressman Sam Gibbons once told me that USF was built to do just that – provide access and affordability for families precisely like mine.” 
 
Fox’s passion for math in high school led her to the then male-dominated Department of Mathematics and Statistics where she struggled to connect with her professors and the material before realizing she could use her experience to fuel a career in mathematics education.  
 
“I just felt like there’s a better way to do this so that everyone feels connected and can embrace the topic,” Fox said. “I decided I was going to be an element of that change. So, I started pursuing courses in the College of Education as well.” 
 
Following graduation, Fox worked as a statistician for the Florida Department of Transportation and spent five years teaching at Tampa Catholic High School. In 1977 she began teaching at Hillsborough Community College (HCC), where her mentors in the administration encouraged her to return to USF to pursue her master’s and, eventually, doctoral degree. 

“Once I got my master’s degree in 1980, HCC hired me as a full-time professor at the Ybor campus and immediately started assigning me to what were known as ‘cross enrollment courses’ that were being taught on the USF campus,” Fox said. 
 
The classes bridged the gap for students who had been accepted to USF but weren’t able to pass the placement test that would allow them to enroll in college algebra or calculus 1. HCC’s intermediate algebra course, which packed two years of high school algebra into 15 weeks, turned out to be Fox’s specialty. She went on to teach courses at USF as well as at HCC and pioneered HCC’s online courses for mathematics, building an impressive teaching career in higher education that spanned 33 years. 
 
“I loved it and I did a great job,” Fox said. “The success rate was phenomenal and very rarely were my students unable to pass the placement test after they took my course.” 

Today, Fox is still invested in making a difference at USF and in the lives of its students. She is a current member of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and USF’s Women in Leadership and Philanthropy, a past member of the College of Education’s Advisory Council, USF’s Latin Community Advisory Committee board, USF’s Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean and a past president and proud member of the Alumni Association. Together with her husband, Bob, she has also made generous donations to the college over the years, funding study abroad programs and other opportunities for student development.  
 
Through it all, her story emphasizes the power of building and showing up for your community. 
 
“Stick together,” Fox said. “Share your struggles and your celebrations – as much as you feel comfortable. It’s so important that you have supportive people along with you through the journey. It’s going to be a long journey.”