Artemio “Ricky” Hernandez, Ph.D., CGFM

Artemio “Ricky” Hernandez, Ph.D., CGFM Deputy Executive Manager A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam

Artemio Ricardo “Ricky” Aguon Hernandez, Ph.D. is the Deputy Executive Manager of the A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam (GIAA) where he oversees each of the divisions of the agency. He is also an Adjunct Instructor of Accounting and Public Administration at the University of Guam (UOG), having taught since January 2014. Dr. Hernandez was also elected in 2019 as the Active Member Trustee of the Government of Guam Retirement Fund Board of Trustees where he was selected by the Trustees as its Treasurer and was appointed by the Chairman as the Investment Committee Chairperson. In addition, Dr. Hernandez sits on the Research Corporation of the University of Guam Board of Directors as one of its longest serving members, having been appointed for two consecutive three-year terms by former UOG President, Dr. Robert A. Underwood and an additional three-year term by current UOG President Thomas W. Krise.

Dr. Hernandez was previously the Deputy Administrator of the Guam Economic Development Authority from January 2019 through July 2020 and was concurrently appointed as the Interim Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works from February to April 2019. Initially appointed by the late Senator Vicente “ben” Cabrera Pangelinan and further appointed by Speaker Benjamin J. F. Cruz, Dr. Hernandez was also the youngest and longest serving Director of the Guam Legislature Office of Finance and Budget (OFB). He had been with the OFB from August 2010 to January 2019 – spanning nearly four (4) legislative terms. As OFB Director, Dr. Hernandez served as Vice Chairperson of the Guam Department of Education Financial Supervisory Commission, Member of the Special Economic Service, and Chairperson of the Special Accounting Service.

Dr. Hernandez is a proud alumnus of Father Duenas Memorial School having graduated in 2004. He subsequently attended the University of Guam as a government of Guam Merit Scholar and obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting in 2007. Upon graduation, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where he attended theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and obtained his Master of Accounting in 2009. While in Hawaii, Dr. Hernandez worked as a full-time auditor with Wikoff Combs & Co., LLC, a full-service Hawaii-based CPA firm for over two (2) years. He was also selected to attend the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and received the AICPA Scholarship for Minority Accounting Students. He earned his Ph.D. in Business from Capella University in 2019. He is also a Certified Government Financial Manager and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary.

As a dedicated member of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Guam Chapter, Dr. Hernandez served in multiple positions including his initial role as the Early Careers Committee Chairperson during Program Years 2011 through 2012 where he developed the inaugural “Building Bridges Mixer” in 2011 held at the UOG. He was awarded the inaugural AGA Guam Chapter Emerging Leader Award in 2012. He also served as the Guam Chapter’s Webmaster, Newsletter Editor, Director of Communications, and eventually its President in 2015 during the AGA Guam Chapter’s 45th Anniversary where he was included in the Who’s Who in the Government of Guam 40 Years and Under Publication. As President, he served on the inaugural Guam Board of Accountancy Standing Committee overseeing the Senator Herminia Dierking and John Phillips Visiting Accounting Professor and Lecturer Program. He continues to be a consistent member of the Herminia Dierking and AGA Guam Chapter Scholarship Committee. Dr. Hernandez was also Guam’s first AGA National Council of Chapters Representative and held the position of Regional Vice President-elect for the Pacific Rim Region. He was also awarded the prestigious AGA National Emerging Leader Award of Excellence in 2020 and the AGA National Academic Full-time Scholarship for Graduate Students for four consecutive years.

In 2018, Dr. Hernandez was selected and graduated from the prestigious Council of State Governments Henry Toll Fellowship Program. He is also an alumnus of the 2015 National Council of State Legislatures, University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy, and California State University Sacramento Center for California Studies’ Legislative Staff Management Institute and the 2013 Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs and Graduate School USA Executive Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Hernandez is happily married to Sarah G. Elmore-Hernandez where they live with their shih-tzu/lhasa apso dog named Unai. He is the son of William L. Hernandez and Bernadita Aguon-Hernandez.