On October 2-3, NMSU students, faculty and the Talking Stick Institute, in collaboration with the Alma d’arte Charter High School/Youth Center, will host the second annual What’s Art? Convention – “Exploring the Creative and Green Economy of New Mexico,” and the What’s Art? Street Festival. Students in our small business consulting classes will get hands-on experience in service-learning projects directed by David Boje, business management professor. Read more…. and watch a video about the first ever 3-day Arts Convention held at NMSU in 2008.

2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference

New Mexico State University’s 2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference took place September 16-17 on the NMSU campus. The conference brought together some of the best minds from across the U.S. This annual event focuses on public policy matters that significantly impact the entire country. Topics at this year’s conference were nuclear energy, homeland security and the U.S./Mexico border, national security and the U.S. economy and the national debt. A video of each presenter will be archived and available for viewing. Information and updates are provided on The Pete V. Domenici Legacy website at http://domenici.nmsu.edu.

Hall of Fame & Traders Awards

On September 25, 2009, NMSU’s College of Business held its 12th annual Hall of Fame. Receiving the Hall of Fame award for 2009 are Shari Jones, Global Compliance Officer and member of the Strategic Risk Management group, ProLogis Corporation; and Kelly Peña, Vice President, Disney Channels Worldwide Brand Research, Disney ABC Cable Networks Group. Our 2009 Trader’s Award Recipients: Don and Sarrah Kidd, Jerry P. With and Jayann and David Sepich. Read more….

Homecoming: Celebrating the Past… Unmasking the Future

October 22-24, 2009. College of Business homecoming events are available on our calendar at http://business.nmsu.edu/news. Select October 23 as the calendar date to view our events, information and contacts. We’ll be hosting the Dean’s Suite Dedication, our college scholarship luncheon, the student lounge dedication and our distinguished alumni reception.

Get the NMSU events, calendar and contact information.

Hyman named as Stan Fulton Chair in Business at NMSU

Michael Hyman, a marketing professor at New Mexico State University, has been named the Stan Fulton Chair in Business at NMSU’s College of Business. Hyman currently teaches marketing research and sports marketing as well as doctoral level courses in marketing theory and applied research methods. The Stan Fulton Chair was created by a $1 million gift from Stan Fulton, owner of Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Read more….

Tian named Robert O. Anderson distinguished professor at NMSU

Kelly Tian, a marketing professor at New Mexico State University, has been named the Robert O. Anderson distinguished professor at NMSU’s College of Business. Tian currently teaches courses where students develop marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations and examine the effects of globalization on consumer culture. Read more….

Dorfman named Bank of America distinguished professor at NMSU

Peter Dorfman, a management professor at New Mexico State University, has been named the Bank of America distinguished professor at NMSU’s College of Business. Dorfman has been with NMSU for more than 30 years and currently teaches human resource management and general organizational behavior. Read more….

Ask the Dean

Do you have a question for Dean Carruthers? Email him at cobdean@nmsu.edu.

College of Business enrollment is up 3.6% for the Fall 2009 semester over Fall 2008.

• NMSU’s fall 2009 enrollment jumps 8.3 percent from 2008
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Michael Hyman, marketing professor at New Mexico State University, will serve as the Stan Fulton Chair in Marketing at NMSU’s College of Business. (NMSU Photo by Darren Phillips)

Michael Hyman, a marketing professor at New Mexico State University, has been named the Stan Fulton Chair in Business at NMSU’s College of Business.

“I’m honored to be the first person selected as the Stan Fulton Chair,” Hyman said. He currently teaches marketing research and sports marketing as well as doctoral level courses in marketing theory and applied research methods.

The Stan Fulton Chair was created by a $1 million gift from Stan Fulton, owner of Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Earnings from the endowment are used to support the salary of the faculty member holding the chair, as well as program development and other needs.

The Stan Fulton Chair is structured for a senior faculty member to mentor junior faculty members as well as doctoral students. A recommendation for the chair is made by the college’s faculty council and then sent to the dean for approval.

“Mike Hyman completely immerses himself in the scholarship of discovery,” said Elise “Pookie” Sautter, department head for marketing. “His insightful research and writing skills make him highly sought after as a reviewer, as a co-author and an invaluable asset to our marketing Ph.D. program.”

As part of his responsibilities, Hyman will work with Chris Erickson, an NMSU economics professor, to produce New Mexico Business Outlook, an online publication highlighting various aspects of business in the state. Hyman will focus particularly on ethics and public policy, and provide a preliminary venue for faculty members to publish their work.

Hyman earned his Ph.D. at Purdue University in 1984. He taught at the University of Houston and the University of North Texas before joining the NMSU faculty in 1993. Author of more than 100 published scholarly papers and current member of nine journal editorial review boards, he previously held the Wells Fargo and NationsBank professorships in the College of Business. His research interests include consumers’ response to advertising, marketing ethics, survey research methods and knowledge acquisition in academia.

There are four, $1 million or more chairs in the College of Business. They include the Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair, the Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development, the Robin T. Peterson Endowed Chair in Marketing and the Stan Fulton Chair.

Left to right: Convocation award recipients Martha Mitchell, Elba Serrano, Thomas Burton, David Jauregui, Charles Creusere, Eve Adams, Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome, Ruth Cantrell, Kathy Greenwood, Loretta Diehl, Nina Javaher, Patrick Gavin, Nancy Baker, Jay Lillywhite, Mary Ballyk, and Kenny Stevens. (photo by Darren Phillips)

New Mexico State University began the spring 2009 semester by celebrating the accomplishments of faculty members during the Spring Convocation ceremony. Convocation is held at the beginning of each semester and is meant to inform staff and faculty members about the upcoming semester. It is traditional for NMSU to give out various awards during the ceremony.

Ruth Cantrell, a faculty member in the Department of Theatre Arts, was awarded the Dennis W. Darnall Faculty Achievement Award. The award is presented each year to a faculty member for achievements in teaching and research and for service to the community and the university.

Cantrell is an actress, director, professor and mentor. She has established enrichment programs that help students discover their creative abilities through theatre, literature and history. One of her most successful programs is the Children’s Theatre Workshop, an after-school and summer drama program. Her areas of research and creativity focus on creative dramatics, children’s theatre, playwriting and acting.

Eleven faculty members were recognized for winning the Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award. Named for a former NMSU executive vice president in recognition of his 35 years of teaching improvement in New Mexico, the annual Roush award recognizes NMSU faculty for teaching excellence.

The 2009 Roush award winners are Jay Lillywhite, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business; Mary Ballyk, Department of Mathematical Sciences; Tim Ketelaar, Department of Psychology; Patrick M. Gavin, Department of Marketing; Eve Adams, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology; Kenny Stevens, Department of Engineering Technology and Surveying Engineering; Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome, School of Social Work; Loretta H. Diehl, Nursing, NMSU-Alamogordo; Kathy Greenwood, English, NMSU-Carlsbad; Nina Javaher, Business and Information Systems, NMSU’s Doña Ana Community College; and Joan Erben, Humanities, NMSU-Grants.

Charles D. Creusere was awarded the International Foundation for Telemetering Professorship in Telecommunications. Creusere is an associate professor at the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received an educational fellowship from the Department of Defense and a Certificate of Merit for the outstanding technical paper “Automatic target recognition directed image compression.”

John P. Loveland, in the Department of Management, was awarded the John P. Loveland Professorship in Quality Management. Loveland has served as a professor of management, department head of management and director of key college programs including the Center for Quality Management and Manufacturing. Throughout his 36 years of service at NMSU, his academic and professional focus was on leadership.

Martha C. Mitchell, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded the Robert Davis Chemical Engineering Professorship. Mitchell’s research mainly focuses on computer-aided design of fuel/oxidizer operations, separation of light gas mixtures using inorganic molecular sieve membranes, molecular density functional theory, and simulation of leaching of radioactive isotopes.

Thomas D. Burton, in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, was awarded the Robert G. Myers Mechanical Engineering Department Head Professorship. Burton helped develop NMSU’s aerospace engineering program. His research has been in the general area of dynamics and vibrations and has included work in several specialties.

Robin T. Peterson, in the Department of Marketing, has been awarded the Robin T. Peterson Endowed Chair in Marketing. Peterson has been part of NMSU since 1976. While at NMSU, he’s held various distinguished professorships, and has received two Fulbright awards and the 2002 Educator of the Year award presented by the Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

David V. Jauregui, in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded the Wells/Hatch Family Civil Engineering Professorship. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanics of materials, structural analysis, steel design and behavior, experimental methods, and bridge engineering. His research focuses on the condition evaluation of bridge structures using analytical techniques and nondestructive testing methods.

Click the link below to see a webcast of the 2009 Spring Convocation.

http://mediasite-server.nmsu.edu/ictmsite/Catalog/Front.aspx?cid=9a870261-3815-4ba2-abd0-e5bab8b19cd2

When the Doing What Counts campaign was announced in Oct. 2005 the goal was to reach $150 million by Dec. 2008. It was the most ambitious fundraising endeavor undertaken by New Mexico State University in its history. Not only has NMSU reached that mark they surpassed it… exceeding $200 million and breaking all expectations.

“The money raised is helping NMSU achieve even higher levels of academic excellence for our students, faculty, the community and the nation,” said Nick Franklin, vice president of advancement and executive director of the NMSU Foundation. “I want to thank everyone who made a contribution, large or small, that enabled us to reach our goal so soon. The generous and gracious gifts we received are the reason we continue to grow and transform NMSU.”

The Doing What Counts campaign was developed to help support academic chairs and professorships that support NMSU’s outstanding faculty, create additional scholarships to attract quality students and acquire funds for several exciting capital improvement projects such as the Center for the Arts, the Native American Center and the Domenici Institute.

The campaign was announced during homecoming 2005 with the goal of reaching $150 million by the end of 2008. As of Oct. 2008, the total amount raised is an unprecedented $202 million. Because of the success of this campaign to date, the NMSU Foundation board is confident that their revised goal — $225 million raised by December 2010 — can be achieved.

“Thousands of gifts have come from alumni and friends committed to seeing New Mexico State University elevated to a new level of excellence in education and research,” said Waded Cruzado, NMSU’s interim president. “We can see how the generosity of so many permeates throughout campus. By working together we can continue to ensure that NMSU remains one of the nation’s top-notch land-grant universities.”

During this campaign NMSU has discovered many Partners in Excellence who have helped us reach this historic mark. To become a Partner in Excellence and to learn how to contribute, visit http://giving.nmsu.edu.

Left to Right: Professor Robin Peterson and Brad Gordon. (submitted photo)

Robin Peterson, marketing professor at New Mexico State University, will serve as the first holder of the Robin T. Peterson Endowed Chair in Marketing. Brad Gordon, a successful former NMSU student, created the chair in Peterson’s honor with a donation valued at more than half a million dollars.

“The intent all along was to honor Dr. Peterson’s accomplishments,” Gordon said. “Management is compensated on the value of the assets they manage. Instructors are charged with managing the young minds of our world. I can’t imagine managing an asset more valuable. Those who can should give back to education.”

The Peterson chair was created when Gordon donated 10,000 shares of Celgene stock, valued at more than $500,000, to the College of Business. The chair received matching funds from the state, bringing the total endowment to more than $1 million. Earnings from the endowment are used to support the salary of the faculty member holding the chair, as well as program development and other needs.

“This is an honor and certainly reflects the benevolence of one of our alumni,” said Peterson. “Brad is an outstanding individual. Not only is he truly brilliant and successful, he has always had tremendous people skills.”

Gordon earned a degree in marketing from NMSU in 1978. He graduated near the top of his class in business, a major accomplishment for someone who had failed in previous attempts to obtain a degree at other universities.

A career counselor in Los Angeles advised Gordon to attend college in New Mexico where his earlier academic records would not be considered and where he could start anew, giving him a chance at rebuilding a GPA needed to enter graduate school someday.

“From the time I first met him, he was always very inquisitive,” Peterson said of Gordon. “He’d ask questions about marketing not covered in the course or the book. He just wanted to know.”

Gordon often speaks of his experience at NMSU, saying he first went through a serious culture shock coming from the Midwest to the desert in New Mexico. Gordon credits NMSU’s small class sizes and the up-close and personal nature of the university for his success.

“I found myself at New Mexico State. I learned to believe in my abilities and talents, and to put them to use in an impactful way,” Gordon said. “I learned how to succeed.”

After finishing school, Gordon worked in venture capital and then turned to launching several companies in tandem with other entrepreneurs. Since 1981 Gordon has been involved in the startup of eleven companies, mostly in the biotech field.

There are now four, $1 million or more chairs in the College of Business. They include the Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair, The Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development, the Robin T. Peterson Endowed Chair in Marketing and the Stan Fulton Chair in Business.

Kevin Boberg, associate business dean at New Mexico State University and CEO of NMSU’s Arrowhead Center, will continue as the Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development in NMSU’s College of Business.

Boberg has held the economic development chair position since 2005. The position must be renewed every three years.

“Kathy and I are absolutely delighted with this decision,” said NMSU College of Business Dean Garrey Carruthers. “He’s done a wonderful job by taking an active role in Arrowhead Center and working with many economic development projects in our state.”

The economic development chair was created by a $500,000 gift from Carruthers and his wife. The chair received a $1 million match from the state. Earnings from the $1.5 million endowment are used to support the salary of the faculty member holding the chair, as well as program development and other needs.

“I’m humbled and honored by the opportunity,” said Boberg. “Governor and Mrs. Carruthers’ contributions to the state through public and private life, and through philanthropic endeavors are well known. I look forward to continuing the work they began and we have continued – specifically in regard to our most important mission, serving our students and those in the State of New Mexico.”

Arrowhead Center is a nonprofit organization created to commercialize new technologies and stimulate economic growth in New Mexico.

“He does a fantastic job working with groups around the state on economic and business development,” said Kathy Brook, associate dean in business. She said the decision to rename Boberg to the chair position was the consensus of the department heads and associate deans in the college.

Boberg earned his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University in 1983. He taught at Penn State and the University of Hawaii before joining the NMSU faculty in 1987.

There are now four, $1 million or more chairs in the College of Business. They include the Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair, The Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development, the Robin T. Peterson Endowed Chair in Marketing and the Stan Fulton Chair in Business.

After successfully reaching its $150 million “Doing What Counts” comprehensive campaign goal years ahead of schedule, New Mexico State University’s Foundation has increased the goal to $225 million to be reached by 2010, making it the most ambitious comprehensive campaign goal undertaken by a New Mexico university to date.

“Many of our original projects have yet to be fully supported and although many have supported the campaign, we want everyone to have the opportunity to contribute,” said Rebecca Dukes, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the NMSU Foundation.

The “Doing What Counts” campaign went public in 2005 with gifts and pledges of more than $40 million in hand, but the momentum of the public launch resulted in many more gifts to the university for top priorities including endowed faculty chairs and professorships.

Stan Fulton, owner of Sunland Park Race Track and Casino, has given more than $7 million to the university, which has resulted not only in the Stan Fulton Center, an academic support and sports medicine complex for student athletes, but also the establishment of chairs in the College of Education, College of Health and Social Services and the College of Business.

Brothers Ed and Harold “Chub” Foreman made a $1.5 million gift to the civil engineering department that will fund a chair and two professorships.

Michael Johnson’s $1 million gift to the College of Arts and Sciences established the first chair for the college in the geological sciences department.

One of the largest gifts to the university came in March with an in-kind donation of computer software systems, equipment and training for the College of Engineering from the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE). NMSU was one of only 11 schools across the country to receive a PACE gift. NMSU’s PACE gift had a campaign value of about $88 million.

Dukes said the focus for the campaign as it continues will be to reenergize efforts for the unfunded projects.

One of the campaign’s capital priorities that is still a work in progress is the Performing Arts Center, which will serve the growing arts community of the region and the campus.

Other priorities of the campaign include scholarship endowments, funds to complete the renovation of the College of Education’s O’Donnell Hall and construction of a Native American Cultural Center.

The establishment of endowments has had an impact on the campaign as well. More than 80 new endowments have been established since the public launch of the campaign to support a variety of programs across campus.

Dukes said she would really like to see more alumni take advantage of the opportunity to establish an endowment. NMSU is one of only two or three schools in the country that only require $10,000 to establish an endowment. Dukes said at the conclusion of this campaign the university may consider increasing the required dollar amount.

“This is a great opportunity for alumni to give to the university,” Dukes said. She explained that alumni giving is important to the university because national rankings consider the percentage of alumni giving when evaluating a university’s standing.

“The percentage of alumni who give back to their alma mater impacts rankings and grant proposals,” Dukes said.

During the first half of this fiscal year, giving to NMSU is double what it was for the entire year of 2003-2004, which was when the university first started counting contributions toward the campaign.

“That’s what campaigns do,” Dukes said.

Dukes said there are many gifts in the planning stages that she wants to make sure are included in the campaign and that the advancement team is seeking individuals for challenge or matching grant competitions.

“The staff is excited and recharged by this new goal and we will continue to pursue funding for the needed NMSU projects,” Dukes said.

Dukes said the success of the campaign thus far has had a great deal to do with the volunteer leadership, including John Long, president of the NMSU Foundation, and Danny Villanueva, honorary chair of the campaign committee.

“Their leadership and the service of those on the Foundation Board of Directors has really accelerated what we have been able to accomplish,” Dukes said.

Dukes also indicated that the service of those on the investment committee has really made an impact on the growth of the NMSU Foundation’s endowment.

In 2006, the endowment surpassed $100 million in size and continues to grow, Dukes said.

For more information about the NMSU “Doing What Counts” comprehensive campaign, call the NMSU advancement team at (505) 646-1613.

From left to right: J. Tim Query, Carl Kendall, Julie E. Johnson, Eric Butcher, Zohrab A. Samani, Theodore W. Sammis (NMSU photo by Darren Phillips)

New Mexico State University celebrated the recipients of three endowed chairs, four professorships and 11 excellence in teaching awards during Spring Convocation, Jan. 16.

The chairs and professorships include three from the College of Engineering, two from the College of Health and Human Services, and one each from the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and the College of Business.

Rola Idriss is the holder of the Ed Foreman Professorship. Ed Foreman is a successful NMSU alumnus in the fields of business and politics. The professorship will help support teaching, research and service activities of the civil engineering faculty member selected.

Idriss was the first woman to earn her Ph.D. from the NMSU civil engineering department, and the first woman to join the faculty in that department. Her award-winning research on “smart bridges” has brought national and international recognition to the College of Engineering.

Zohrab Samani is the recipient of the Harold “Chub” Foreman Professorship. Alumnus Harold “Chub” Foreman’s career began in heavy construction and led to real estate brokerage and management. The professorship will help support teaching, research and service activities of the civil engineering faculty member selected.

Samani developed a renewable energy program to produce bio-energy from agricultural waste. He also developed several low-cost water-flow measuring devices which are currently used by irrigation districts locally and in eight countries.

The Dwight L. and Aubrey Chapman Endowed Professorship was established through an estate gift from the Chapmans to support key technical areas in mechanical engineering.

The professorship holder is Eric Butcher. Most of his research has been in the area of theoretical and computational dynamics and vibrations.

Carl Kendall is the new holder of the Stan Fulton Endowed Chair in Health Disparities. This endowed chair, established in 2004, will provide funding for a professor and director for the Southwest Center for Health Disparities Research.

Kendall is new to NMSU after a career at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Louisiana. He has collaborated with colleagues in more than 40 countries to address global problems of maternal and childhood illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Currently Kendall manages projects in eight countries with full-time staff in four of those countries.

The Elisa E. and Antonio H. Enriquez Endowed Professorship in the School of Nursing was established by a gift from Nancy Archuleta to provide funding for a nursing professor.

Julie E. Johnson is the professorship holder. Her research focuses on the self-care and health promotion activities of older women living in rural and frontier areas.

The Jose Fernandez Memorial Chair was established by the Enrique Chavez family in recognition of his contributions to NMSU and the agricultural community.

The chair was awarded to Theodore Sammis, a professor in the Department of Plant and Environmental Science. He is credited for setting up the state’s climatology program and creating the New Mexico Climate Center.

The Mountain States Insurance Group Chair for the Study of Insurance and Financial Services is intended for development of new college-educated personnel for the insurance and financial services industry in the state of New Mexico and in the Southwestern region of the country.

J. Tim Query was recently named to the chair. He has published extensively in the insurance and financial services fields.

Also honored during convocation were the Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award winners. Named for a former NMSU executive vice president in recognition of his 35 years of teaching improvement in New Mexico, the annual Roush awards recognize NMSU faculty for teaching excellence.

Back row, left to right: Jack Rogers, Greg Roth, Lee Hamilton, Russell P. Jedlicka and Paul Garcia. Front row: Eva Pavia Aguilar, Claudia Estrada, Michele Shuster, Deborah Wright Knapp, Margaret “Ann” Bock and Katharine Rhodes. (NMSU photo by Darren Phillips)

Roush award winners are Margaret “Ann” Bock, family and consumer sciences; Lee Hamilton, sociology and anthropology; Michele Shuster, biology; Greg Roth, finance and business law; Deborah Wright Knapp, physical education, recreation and dance; Russell P. Jedlicka, electrical and computer engineering; Eva Pavia Aguilar, nursing; Jack Rogers, nursing, NMSU Alamogordo; Claudia Estrada, nursing, NMSU Carlsbad; Katharine L. Rhodes, education, NMSU Doña Ana Community College; and Paul Garcia, automotive technology, NMSU Grants.

New Mexico State University professorship and chair recipients celebrated at the Spring Convocation Jan. 11 were, left to right, Bernie McNamara, Kenneth White, Thomas Schmugge, Betsy Cahill, Nirmala Khandan, Glenn Kuehn, Mary Teresa Brandon, Barry Smith, Herman Garcia and Larry Mays. (NMSU photo by Darren Phillips)

Ten new professorships and chairs were celebrated at New Mexico State University’s Spring Convocation Tuesday, Jan. 11.

The Regents Professorship, established in 2001 by the New Mexico State University Board of Regents, recognizes faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the university’s mission and to honor contributions in the areas of education, research, extension education and public service. This year’s Regents Professors join 20 current holders of the professorship.

The 2005 Regents Professors are Herman S. Garcia, curriculum and instruction; Glenn D. Kuehn, chemistry and biochemistry; G. Larry Mays, criminal justice; Bernard McNamara, astronomy; and Kenneth R. White, civil engineering. Mary Teresa Brandon, Doña Ana Branch Community College, was named a Regents Professorship Master Teacher.

Garcia has worked to promote diversity on local, national and international levels. He served as department head of curriculum and instruction from 1997 to 2003 and has served on committees such as the National Association for Bilingual Education and the American Educational Research Association. He also serves as adviser to the Hispanic Educators Association and the social service Latino student fraternity Omega Delta Phi.

Kuehn is nationally recognized in the area of polyamine metabolism. He has helped many faculty members secure funding for various research projects including funding from the Centers for Disease Control for supplemental education and the Sloan grant for underrepresented groups in molecular biology.

Mays is a national expert on jails and prisons. His work in juvenile justice is widely acclaimed by juvenile justice academics and professionals in the field. He has authored several books on courts and the justice system, the U.S. prison system, jails and detention centers, and his involvement in the development of proposals has resulted in more than $200,000 in funded research.

McNamara has been involved with countless research activities that go beyond the boundaries of Earth, including research using two of NASA’s “great observatories,” the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Astronomy Satellite. He also was the co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal establishing New Mexico as a participant in the NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

White is an international expert in bridge design. He has served as head of the civil and geological engineering department and as interim dean of the College of Engineering. As director of the Bridge Inspection Program at NMSU, White and his team of NMSU instructors offer bridge inspection courses throughout the United States and abroad. Together, they have had an impact on about 5,000 engineers in the past 24 years.

Brandon became the first coordinator of the Health Occupations Program at DABCC in 1997, and now serves as director. Under her resourceful leadership, enrollment in the program has more than doubled in six years. She also is credited with developing the associate in applied science degree in public health, which fully articulates with NMSU’s bachelor’s in community health and bachelor’s of human and community services.

The Gerald W. Thomas Chair in Food Production and Natural Resources was established in honor of President Emeritus Thomas. When Thomas retired in 1984, the College of Agriculture and Home Economics endowed the $1 million chair – the first in university history.

Thomas Schmugge will begin work in March as the new Gerald Thomas Chair. Trained as a physicist, Schmugge spent 15 years with NASA and 17 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Hydrology Lab, from which he recently retired. His expertise includes using satellite data, such as microwave and thermal infrared images, to estimate snowmelt, measure soil moisture and to determine water losses from evaporation and transpiration in plants.

The Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair for the Study of Insurance and Financial Services was established in 2003 by Albuquerque-based Mountain States Insurance Group. It will help the College of Business Administration and Economics to provide an insurance and financial services program, an insurance center and an insurance scholarship endowment.

Barry Smith, who holds the chair, has been a faculty member in the finance department since 1986 and served as department head for eight years. He has lectured on various insurance topics in 32 states, and has authored three books and numerous articles on insurance and risk management.

The J. Paul Taylor Professorship has been established in honor of J. Paul Taylor, a retired state representative who received three degrees from NMSU. Taylor has been a lifelong advocate for K-12 education, most notably early childhood and bilingual education.

Betsy Cahill, curriculum and instruction, is the first recipient of the J. Paul Taylor Professorship. She has published many articles on issues related to young children and has secured grants that have allowed for the development of new programs, including an Early Childhood Professional Development Initiative Project to research, design and develop educational standards for a variety of specializations, endorsements and certifications. Cahill co-authored Gov. Bill Richardson’s Early Learning Plan, which was announced at New Mexico State last October.

The John Clark Endowed Professorship is named for John W. Clark, professor of civil engineering from 1953 to 1978. Recognized for his expertise in water and water treatment, he directed the NSF Summer Conference on water resources and served as director of the Water Resources Research Institute from 1971 to 1976.

Nirmala Khandan, civil engineering, is the first holder of the John Clark Endowed Professorship. He has published more than 50 journal papers and a book, “Modeling Tools for Environmental Engineers and Scientists.” Three of his papers are among the top 1 percent of all papers published in engineering worldwide in terms of peer citation. With funding from the National Science Foundation, he researches educational materials development.

Garrey Carruthers, center, dean of the New Mexico State University College of Business Administration and Economics, accepts a $1 million gift from Jerry With of Mountain States Insurance Group at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, Wednesday, August 13, 2003, in Las Cruces. The gift marks the establishment of the Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair. Barry Smith, far left, professor and department head of finance at NMSU, Randy Perkins, far right, of Mountain States, and Roger Buelow, second from right, of Mountain States, also were on hand for the presentation. (NMSU photo)

Garrey Carruthers, dean of the College of Business Administration and Economics at New Mexico State University, announced today the establishment of the Mountain States Insurance Group Endowed Chair for the Study of Insurance and Financial Services at New Mexico State.

“My thanks to Mountain States Insurance Group for their commitment to excellence in insurance and finance education at New Mexico State University,” said Carruthers. “This assures our continued progress in becoming a center of excellence for insurance and finance education in the region.”

“We hope through establishing this program, which is really the only one in this geographical area, that we will be the source for labor in the insurance industry,” said Barry Smith, professor and department head of finance at NMSU. “We hope that for the state of New Mexico, it provides economic development.”

The endowment for the chair will be funded through a $1 million gift from Mountain States Insurance Group, an insurance industry leader headquartered in Albuquerque. The announcement was made during a dinner that followed the college’s first annual faculty/staff strategic directions conference at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum.

One of the problems insurance companies and agencies are facing today is the lack of qualified people, said Edward Lujan, chairman of the board of Manuel Lujan Agencies, a family insurance and real estate business with offices in Albuquerque, Belen and Taos.

“We have to start from scratch,” said Lujan, an NMSU graduate and a driving force in establishing the chair. “There isn’t any institution that is teaching our profession at a more intense level. We spend a lot of time and money training people, for some to decide it’s not the profession they like.”

Lujan said the establishment of the endowed chair will provide the insurance industry a place to recruit potential employees.

Jerry P. With, president of Mountain States Insurance Group, said he and others in the insurance industry have long recognized a need in this region for higher education programs specific to the industry.

“When I came to work for Mountain States in 1970, I had a background in accounting, but I didn’t know anything about insurance,” he said. “It took me quite a while to get my ‘formal education’ in the insurance business.”

New Mexico State officials believe the university is the perfect fit for the chair. The business college is the only college of business offering a series of insurance courses on a regular basis in the region, and is the largest college of business in the state with nearly 70 faculty and more than 2,200 students.

With the endowed chair in place, the college will be able to provide an insurance and financial services program, and hopefully establish an insurance center and an insurance scholarship endowment in the future, Smith said.

“The success of this chair, the first one in the college of business, is due in large part to the work of Dr. Jay Gogue (the university’s outgoing president), Edward Lujan and former Dean Danny Arnold over a year ago,” said Rebecca Dukes, vice president of university advancement.