Joe Serna, Jr.

Biography / Administrative History

Joe Serna, Jr. was born on September 3, 1939 in Stockton, California. He was raised in the small community of Acampo near Lodi, California and graduated from Lodi High School in 1958. He worked for two years at Helilite Sheet Metal Company before entering college. He attended Stockton College and then Sacramento City College where he received his A.A. degree. He then attended Sacramento State College and graduated in 1966 with a degree in Social Science/Government. He and his first wife Evelyn then entered the Peace Corps and served in Guatemala.

Upon returning to California, Serna began graduate school at the University of California, Davis. Serna completed an internship with Senator Mervyn Dymally during his graduate studies. After his return from Guatemala, Serna became increasingly active in local politics and with Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement in California. In 1969, Serna began work as a part-time instructor at Sacramento State in the Government and Ethnic Studies Departments. Serna went on to become a professor and taught at Sacramento State for thirty years, except for a leave of absence from 1975 to 1977 when he worked for Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally as his education advisor.

Serna married his second wife, Isabel Hernandez, in 1981. Serna was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1982 and was elected as Mayor of Sacramento in 1992. During his tenure, Serna addressed such issues as the need to improve the city school system and to revitalize the downtown area. Increasingly, he focused on economic development of the city and the region and worked to bring business to the area. In 1997, Serna was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Board of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Serna died on November 7, 1999 of cancer.

From the guide to the Joe Serna, Jr. papers, 1939-1999, 1992-1999, (California State University, Sacramento. Library. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)