NMSU Panorama - Spring 2019

PANORAMA New Mexico State University Alumni & Friends Magazine

Volume 73 Spring 2019 • FREE

Top of the class The inaugural cohort of Conroy Scholars graduates

+ALSO INSIDE: Apps developed

by Aggies

A Grand in the Stands!

The NMSU Foundation awarded seven lucky Aggies with $1,000 scholarships during halftime of the 2018-2019 NMSU men’s basketball games. Each game, between 200 and 400 students signed up for the drawing, hoping their names would be picked from the giant spinning wheel to win a scholarship for spring tuition. Compared to the same home games from last year, student attendance increased by 16 percent at the games selected to feature the giveaway. All seven winners, along with a recap video, can be seen at https://support.nmsu.edu/grand.

PHOTO BY JOSH BACHMAN

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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HELLO, AGGIES!

I

t’s always an exciting time to be a part of New Mexico State University. We have just sent another amazing class of talented NMSU graduates into the world to help shape the future. We are also preparing to welcome an equally amazing and talented class of new students to campuses this fall. Our athletic teams continue to excel in their competition as well as in the classroom. Our researchers, faculty, staff and other employees are also doing tremendous work to advance the university in all aspects. You’ll read more about the wonderful things happening at NMSU throughout this magazine.

Additionally, we have just launched our new strategic plan, NMSU LEADS 2025. The plan includes updates to our mission, vision and values. It also outlines the new strategic goals we have set for the entire university system. I encourage you to visit nmsu.edu/LEADS/ to provide feedback on this important document.

Thanks, and Go Aggies!

Dan Arvizu, Ph.D. ’73 NMSU Chancellor

H

ello, Aggies! This year seems to be moving fast with many great successes and stories to share – both on campus and in our alumni community.

In the past five months, hundreds of NMSU alumni and friends reunited or connected at various events throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona – even Idaho! Whether these Aggies were meeting to cheer on our championship-winning teams at Aggie watch parties or volunteering in their local communities through #AggieServe, many chapters of the NMSU Alumni Association hosted events to stir up Aggie pride, some of which featured Chancellor Dan Arvizu and President John Floros. We look forward to working with the chapter leaders more this fall to host even more events near you.

One event weekend you can already plan to attend is NMSU’s Homecoming Oct. 3-5, 2019. It’s the greatest time of the year for our Aggie alumni and friends, some of whom will be recognized by their peers as outstanding leaders and partners of NMSU. From the annual parade and football tailgate to the awards dinner and happy hour gatherings, you’re guaranteed to enjoy a weekend full of Aggie celebrations – one where we give special recognition to the classes of ’94, ’89, ’79, ’69 and ’59. Full registration information is available on the back of this magazine.

We can’t wait to see you at either Homecoming or another event this year. Thank you for all that you do to make NMSU proud.

Leslie Cervantes ’86 Associate Vice President of Alumni and Donor Relations University Advancement

This issue of Panorama is produced by the office of Marketing and Communications, New Mexico State University, 575-646-3221.

Correspondences may be sent to Marketing and Communications, MSC 3K, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003-3590 or panorama@nmsu.edu.

Panorama is published two times annually.

ISSN 2470-0649 New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and educator.

The magazine can be found online at panorama.nmsu.edu.

Editor Angel Mendez Assistant Editor Tiffany Acosta Art Director Gerald Rel Contributors Amanda Bradford ’03, Minerva Baumann ’13, Josh Bachman ’07, Josh Borchert, Adriana M. Chávez, Randle Dominguez ’17, Beth Hillis, Matthew Legaretta ’17, Andrés Leighton, Carlos Andres López ’10, Karrie Lucero ’16, Steve MacIntyre ’01, Jane Moorman, Darren Phillips, Kiana Pinter, Melissa Rutter ’17, Michele Sequeira Chancellor Dan Arvizu ’73 President John Floros Interim President and Chief Operating Officer, NMSU Foundation Tina Byford ’00 ’11 Associate Vice President of Alumni and Donor Relations Leslie Cervantes ’86 Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Justin Bannister ’03 ’13 Director of Marketing and Web Communications Melissa Chavira ’03 ’05 ’11 Director of News Darrell J. Pehr Director, Alumni Relations Rebecca Galves ’01 NMSU Alumni Association International Board of Directors Executive Council President Tony Martinez ’96 ’98 President-Elect Scott Sponseller ’96 ’98 Secretary/Treasurer Kay Brilliant ’71 Past President Crystal Lay ’02 ’10 Executive Council Members Kim Archuleta ’95 ’02, Steve Duran ’90, Connie Lee ’69 ’73, Carol Smallwood ’83, Daniel Sonntag ’14, Andrea Sparkevicius ’91 ’99, Adam Thompson ’08 2019© New Mexico State University POSTMASTER: Send address change notifications to Panorama, MSC 3590, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM, 88003-88001

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HEMP ON THE HORIZON

JOSH BACHMAN

NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences looks to lead the state in new crop research

CONTENTS

SPRING 2019

14

TOP OF THE CLASS On the cover

The inaugural cohort of Conroy Scholars graduates

PHOTO BY JOSH BACHMAN

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A NEW WAVE

NMSU alumni, faculty and staff make strides in creating programs for mobile devices

26

MEETING THE NEEDS OF NEW MEXICO

NMSU Extension programs reach unique audiences around the state

18

AGGIES, OH, AGGIES

The history of the Aggie fight song

28

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME

NMSU sees growth in support from passionate community members

ALSO INSIDE 4 Around Aggieland 30 Alumni Connections 35 Pete's Corner 36 Aggie Pride

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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JOSH BACHMAN

AROUND AGGIELAND

Faculty honored at the 2019 spring convocation

The recipients of the Excellence in Assessment Award, the Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award and the University Research Council Award for exceptional achievement in creative scholarly activity were honored at the 2019 Spring Convocation ceremony in January.

Shaun H. Cooper, College of Arts and Sciences; Kim Seckler, College of Arts and Sciences; Terry R. Adler, College of Business; Joseph M. Berning, College of Education; Catherine Brewer, College of Engineering; Ernesto Moralez, College of Health and Social Services; Erin O’Neill Armendarez, NMSU Alamogordo; Robyn Hayes, NMSU Carlsbad; Krista Kozel MacDonald, NMSU Doña Ana; and Beth Humphreys, NMSU Grants.

The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management received the Excellence in Assessment Award for its outstanding assessment processes.

Jane Moorman

Pistol Pete's 1888 garners national awards

Pistol Pete’s 1888 Ale, which launched in 2017 by Bosque Brewing Co. and NMSU, has received two national awards due to its great flavor and style.

Bosque Brewing Co., a New Mexico company owned by NMSU alumni, received a bronze medal at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival competition. Presented by the Brewers Association, GABF is the largest commercial beer competition in the world and recognizes the most outstanding beers produced in the United States.

Pistol Pete's 1888 Ale was recognized in the Golden or Blonde Ale beer-style category.

The 2018 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of 293 expert judges from 8,496 entries.

Randle Dominguez, who works for NMSU’s Athletics Department, won gold at the 2018 MarCom Awards, an international creative competition, for her work designing the can and packaging for Pistol Pete’s 1888 Ale. Adriana M. Chávez

4 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

RANDLE DOMINGUEZ

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ew Mexico State University honored one department and 14 faculty members during the 2019 Spring Convocation ceremony in January at NMSU’s Atkinson Recital Hall.

Recipients of the University Research Council Award for exceptional achievement in creative scholarly activity were Motoko Furuhashi, Department of Art; Patricia Hynes, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium; and David Mitchell, Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award recipients were Frank Hodnett, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences;

Ramakrishna and Ammu Devasthali receive honorary degrees

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MSU’s RISE to the Postdoctorate Program has generated nearly two decades of success in supporting underrepresented minority students to earn advanced degrees in biomedical fields. Building on that success, the National Institutes of Health has renewed NMSU’s grant for five more years with $3.6 million to expand the program in innovative ways by engaging NMSU students in integrated biology and engineering research.

Principal investigators Igor Sevostianov, mechanical engineering professor, Lakshmi Reddi, College of Engineering dean, and Michele Nishiguchi, Regents professor and biology department head, are working together to develop new interdisciplinary courses that draw between engineering and biological science disciplines.

NMSU’s RISE 5 program targets underrepresented minorities with a fellowship that covers their salary, paid health insurance, travel funds to attend national meetings to present their research, as well as funds to participate in summer programs at national R1 universities. The Carnegie ranks R1 universities as those with the highest levels of research activity.

Minerva Baumann ’13

Ramakrishna and Ammu Devasthali receive their honorary degrees from President John Floros and Chancellor Dan Arvizu.

NMSU, UNM scientists’ work may lead to new cancer treatment

After 15 years of research, a partnership between two New Mexico professors is leading to possible, new skin cancer treatments.

Jeffrey Arterburn, New Mexico State University Regents’ professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and his research group partnered with the University of New Mexico cancer biologist Eric Prossnitz and a scientific team Eric Prossnitz (left), UNM professor in the Department at UNM’s Comprehensive Cancer of Internal Medicine and chief of the Division of MolecCenter to investigate a new target for ular Medicine, and Jeffrey Arterburn, Regents’ professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at breast cancer drugs.

With a pilot grant from the Cow- NMSU, discovered a compound that may lead to new skin cancer treatments. boys for Cancer Research Foundation, the team combined chemistry to create new compounds in Arterburn’s lab and extensive testing and development in Prossnitz’ complex cancer models. The pilot funding would eventually lead to more than $8 million in additional research support.

Prossnitz, Arterburn and their colleagues obtained a patent for the compounds in 2011. Then, in 2017, a start-up company called Linnaeus contacted UNM.STC, a nonprofit that oversees the transfer of UNM-developed technology. Linnaeus has licensed a drug candidate for testing in combination with immune therapy for melanoma.

Linnaeus is currently carrying out pre-clinical studies. If they go well, Linnaeus will begin human trials at a few sites around the country led by the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Michele Sequeira COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

NIH renews STEM program for 5 years

STEVE MACINTYRE

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amakrishna and Ammu Devasthali, who have made a name for themselves within the art and medical communities, were honored with honorary degrees during the fall 2018 commencement ceremony. Rama received an honorary doctorate of science, and Ammu received an honorary doctorate of fine arts.

Rama, a radiologist, became the first fellowship trained neuroradiologist in Las Cruces and was the first to bring multi-slice CT and Digital mammography to the area. He currently serves on the board of KRWG in Las Cruces. Ammu earned two master’s degrees from NMSU and now serves as an NMSU regent after being appointed to the position in February 2019.

The duo established two endowments at NMSU, one for KRWG-FM and another in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Both are active in fundraising for the arts at NMSU and were very involved in helping pass the GO Bond and raising private money to support the construction of what will be Devasthali Hall, NMSU’s new Department of Art and Art Museum on University Avenue.

Melissa Rutter ’17

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AROUND AGGIELAND

AGGIE BRAGGING

rights NMSU awarded STARS gold in 2018 Sustainable Campus Index NMSU was awarded its second gold rating by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education in its 2018 Sustainable Campus Index. AASHE is a publication that recognizes top-performing colleges and universities in 17 sustainability impact areas. The STARS report highlights innovative and high-impact initiatives from institutions in the most recent calendar year, including NMSU’s efforts to educate students in their dorms about how to recycle, reduce waste and conserve energy.

NMSU programs earn U.S. News & World Report 2019 Best Online rankings

In its annual listing, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Best Online Education Programs offered by U.S. National Universities. Three of NMSU’s online graduate programs have improved their standings. In 2019, NMSU tied for 49th in criminal justice online graduate programs, tied for 113th in nursing online graduate programs and tied for 143rd in master’s in business administration online graduate programs. NMSU’s online graduate programs in engineering were also recognized and listed in the 72nd to 94th range.

Panorama receives bronze at CASE

The fall 2018 issue of Panorama received a bronze award at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District IV annual conference in February 2019. Panorama strives to share stories about the inspirational, successful and outstanding alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of NMSU. Panorama is a joint collaboration produced by NMSU Marketing and Communications and the NMSU Foundation.

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Recognition continues for Military and Veterans Programs NMSU’s Military and Veterans Programs commitment to service members, veterans and dependents continues to be recognized. Since 2010, NMSU has been named a Military Friendly School by Victory Media and published in GI Jobs.

Military Advanced Education & Transition has placed NMSU on its Top Colleges & Universities list since 2016. Additionally, Military Times included NMSU on its Best for Vets: Colleges list, a recognition NMSU has received since 2017.

F

NMSU students study at Google

ANDRÉS LEIGHTON

ive New Mexico State University students were among 65 from across the country selected for Google’s Tech Exchange program in fall 2018. The students took courses on Google’s campus in San Francisco as they would in a regular semester, but those courses were attached to a project given by Google. Students also had Google mentors and access to professional skills training and interview sessions with Google representatives.

Minerva Baumann ’13

What impressed me the most

I learned that collaboration

A sense of entrepreneurship

One of the most important

I hadn’t seen myself

during my time at Google

is really important to be

is what I brought back from

things that I learned while

represented very much in

was the culture. Google is a

successful in the workplace.

Google. We constantly had to

I was at Google was that as

other places, but going to

place where new ideas and

At Google especially, they

assess current market trends

long as you apply yourself and

Google showed me that

perspectives are not only

have a great support structure

and user needs when coming

work hard, you should be able

people like me could excel in

allowed but also encouraged.

and all the instructors are

up with ideas for projects.

to tackle any job. If there are

STEM. I was used to muscling

It is a place that encourages

open to feedback. I have

Non-school related projects

problems, it is always a good

my way through any problems

you to make mistakes and

learned from being at Google

are so hard to incorporate

idea to have a team with you

I had with my classes, but it

learn from them, and they

that one person’s impact can

into a student's already busy

to ask questions so that you

became clear that I couldn’t

won't blame you for making

really make a difference.

life; however, as a student we

can overcome daily obstacles.

do everything on my own.

those mistakes.

VENSAN CABARDO INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

JACOB ESPINOZA

INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

are at our lowest risk to try innovative ideas that could potentially change the world.

KAY SWEEBE

INTERESTED IN A CAREER USING BIG DATA TO HELP SOLVE PROBLEMS

MARCO SALAZAR

INTERESTED IN PURSUING A CAREER IN VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT OR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Now, I can ask for help without the shame, and it’s made my life a lot easier.

ARIANNA MARTINEZ INTERESTED IN A CAREER AS A SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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AROUND AGGIELAND

Couple donates trees to honor area storytellers

S

JOSH BACHMAN

tories should be told anywhere and everywhere, to anyone and everyone...” These are words that were spoken by Jennie George Curry who founded Storytellers of Las Cruces in 1927, a group that promotes, supports and encourages storytelling. Curry will be one of 12 Las Cruces area storytellers to be honored with a Cedar of Lebanon tree on NMSU’s campus.

Randy ’77 and Cindy ’78 Farmer purchased the trees for NMSU to honor storytellers. The Farmers were inspired by the children’s book, “The Giving Tree,” which features a little boy who grows up and a tree who gives the boy every part of herself to make sure he had everything he needed.

The first tree was planted at the original site of a “storytellers” tree located on College Drive by the nematology lab buildings and Heritage Farm.

“The original tree was planted here during Fabian Garcia’s time. He was a part of the first graduating class, and he was on the first football team,” Randy says. “The reason why that tree ended up dying more recently was because the water stopped going through the canal here.

“I would like to name one tree, the tree planted at the original site, in Jennie Curry’s honor and the second in Don Cotter’s honor. The rest of the trees I want to be named to honor other great storytellers of the area,” Randy says.

In 1973, Curry published her book, “Tumbleweed Tales,” a collection of stories about the Southwest, Christmas, Mother Goose and other topics.

Curry believed that storytelling was a “service to the community.”

Don Cotter, an NMSU professor emeritus of horticulture and plant science, spent 20 years at NMSU. He published his first photography book in early 2018 titled, “Fran’s Organ Mountains,” named after his wife. His second book, “The Cotter Family: An Adventure,” was released in March 2018 and tells the story of an American family through adventures, international travel and unique experiences.

The Farmers are still deciding on the naming criteria for the other trees but do want the public’s help once a system is in place. The duo also wants to see plaques placed at all the trees.

“These trees aren’t for us or even our grandkids,” he said. “They are for our grandkid’s grandkids.”

Melissa Rutter ’17

MAP OF STORYTELLER TREES

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KIANA PINTER

Randy and Cindy Farmer purchased 12 Cedars of Lebanon trees for NMSU’s campus to honor area storytellers. The trees are planted at eight different locations including outside of the Skeen Hall.

AGGIE MILESTONES 125 years

Crimson chosen as school color in 1894.

100 years Era Rentfrow graduated from the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1919 and began working on staff, eventually becoming the college registrar. While in school, she was engaged to fellow student Joe Quesenberry, the first Aggie to be killed in combat during World War I. Perhaps motivated by his loss, she tracked and chronicled the Aggies that served during World War II. Recognizing the need to secure their place in history, she gathered their photographs and biographical information.

60 years

The photos are displayed today in Aggie Memorial Tower.

Donald C. Roush joined the NMSU faculty in 1959 as dean of the College of Education, and he later

became the university’s academic vice president.

Today, the annual Roush awards presented to faculty members are named in recognition of his 35 years of teaching improvement in New Mexico.

30 years

NMSU was officially designated as a HispanicServing Institution in 1989, where, at the time, at least 25 percent of undergraduate full-time students were Hispanic. Now, as of fall 2018, 56 percent of the undergraduate full-time students at the Las Cruces campus are Hispanic.

40 years

In the late 1970s, work began to combine the Department of Nursing with the Department of Social Work, which was in the College of Arts and Sciences, along with health services, which was part of the College of Education. The College of Health and Community Services was founded in 1979.

The NMSU community college system and the School of Continuing Education were originally part of the college as well. In the mid 1990s, the name was changed to the College of Health and Social Services.

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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AROUND AGGIELAND

NMSU takes STEM to Farmington

COURTESY PHOTO

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COURTESY PHOTO

S

tephanie Smetak, a fifth-grade teacher at Country Club Elementary School in Farmington, New Mexico, teaches a stopmotion class that blends learning and technology for her students.

Smetak says she enjoys teaching the class, which was developed by the STEM Outreach Center at NMSU. Not only does she get to watch students learn about and grow their technology skills, she also learns certain elements alongside them.

“Students are always more willing than I am to take the time and fidget with something to get it right, whereas I just want to Google it and be done,” Smetak says.

When Smetak once experienced difficulties displaying videos on the class projector, one of her students was able to fix it.

“When he did, he jumped up, yelled and had the biggest smile on his face,” Smetak says.

After-school programs have proven especially successful for minority and low-income populations who are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields. Student demographics for the Farmington district show a 62.2 percent minority population, and 55 percent of the Farmington district is low-income.

To this end, the Arizona Public Service Foundation awarded $50,000 to the NMSU Foundation to support the STEM Outreach Center in continuing its successful out-of-schooltime STEM education programs in Farmington. The STEM Outreach Center is part of NMSU’s College of Education, and the programs help students explore math and science through collaborative instruction. This grant is the third from the APS Foundation since 2015, totaling $327,000 in support to establish these programs and provide teacher professional development.

“We are thrilled to work with the Farmington School District because the administration, teachers, students and families are so receptive to providing high-quality, out-of-school-time STEM opportunities in their community,” says Susan Brown, interim dean of the College of Education.

The newest grant will allow the STEM Outreach Center to continue its programs at six sites, benefitting 19 teachers and 370 students. The center offers the programs, “DiMA,” or Digital Media Academy; and “COUNT,” or Creating Opportunities Using Numerical Thinking. DiMA reduces the digital divide by introducing students to technology and showing them it is a powerful tool they can use to create and learn, while COUNT helps students overcome math anxiety by showing them the math in their everyday lives.

Adriana M. Chávez

Top: Fifth-grade students at Country Club Elementary School in Farmington, New Mexico, work on STEM projects during an after-school program.

The Arizona Public Service Foundation recently provided $50,000 to the NMSU Foundation in support of NMSU’s STEM Outreach Center, which develops classes used at six sites in Farmington.

Left: A student at Ladera Del Norte Elementary School in Farmington, New Mexico, participates in an art and math activity during a program offered by the STEM Outreach Center at NMSU.

Faculty

Lanasa among select group picked for TV Academy

Amy Lanasa, head of NMSU’s Creative Media Institute, was one of only 25 faculty members selected nationwide to participate in the Television Academy Foundation’s 2018 Faculty Seminar Program.

The weeklong fellowship in November in southern California included panel discussions, programming and scheduling executives, legal experts and content creators.

Faculty were also offered private studio tours and trips to top Hollywood production facilities to meet with producers, observe production and get first-hand updates on the latest in television technologies.

“The Television Academy Faculty Fellowship was one of the greatest experiences of my professional life,” Lanasa says. “Not only was I immersed in the newest practices in the television industry from the development process all the way through distribution and scheduling, but I also had the opportunity to meet 24 other educators from all over the country. The best part is that our students are now eligible for a very prestigious internship program as a result.”

Minerva Baumann ’13

COURTESY PHOTO

NMSU alumna, faculty member named NM Public Education Secretary

Karen Trujillo ’92 ’93 ’98, assistant professor and interim associate dean for research at NMSU’s College of Education, was named New Mexico Public Education Secretary in January 2019 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Trujillo, who also served as the research director for the college’s Alliance for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, as well as the state director for Educators Rising NM, has 25 years of experience in education, including nearly a decade in the classroom and 20 years working in professional development.

Trujillo has worked in four different school districts and charters, along with training educators in more than 30 districts across New Mexico. At the NMSU College of Education, Trujillo oversaw grant research pertaining to educational innovation. She has multiple publications on teaching and education demographics. Trujillo earned three degrees – a bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction – all from NMSU. Adriana M. Chávez JOSH BACHMAN

COURTESY PHOTO

Successes

NMSU art professor created keys to honor lives lost in Holocaust

NMSU sculpture professor Rachel Stevens played a key role in a ceremony in the Ukrainian City of Lviv in 2018. Stevens created an installation comprised of 75 glass keys that were exhibited at the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe from May through August 2018.

The keys were gifted to people active in Jewish heritage and renewal in September 2018, which marked 75 years since the annihilation of the city’s Jewish population

by Nazi Germany. These keys were based on a rusted synagogue key that Stevens discovered in a Lviv street market in early 2018 as part of her research on Jewish culture in a region formerly known as eastern Galicia.

Stevens says she used glass for the replicas because in the Jewish tradition, the material represents “the fragility of life.” Creating them in glass “became a tangible way for me to express my grief about the past and my hope for the future,” she says.

Minerva Baumann ’13

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AROUND AGGIELAND

Revving up student philanthropy

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NMSU Alamogordo’s student government hosted their first-ever car show in October 2018 to support a new endowed scholarship they started on #GivingTuesday for students studying in the automotive technology program.

12 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

BETH HILLIS

ANGEL MENDEZ

MSU Alamogordo proved on #GivingTuesday that givties. In the desert southwest, we are in dire need of automotive ing back is not just for alumni and friends. Led by the mechanics.” campus’ student government, a new scholarship endow The students’ gift – matched by #GivingTuesday funds ment will support their fellow classmates studying in the NMSU through the NMSU Foundation – will soon support students Alamogordo automotive technology program. who live in New Mexico and are enrolled in at least three col “NMSU Alamogordo is really stepping up and showcasing lege credits leading to either a degree or certificate from NMSU that student philanthropy is Alamogordo’s automotive alive and well,” says Leslie technology program.

Cervantes, associate vice

“One of the things that president for alumni and dothese students really get is nor relations. “We would all the need,” says Ken Van be so blessed if we could creWinkle, president of NMSU ate that same culture across Alamogordo. “This program the entire NMSU system, equips students for highwhich I know many of us are quality jobs in the automoworking on every day.” tive industry. We’re really

To start the scholarship, proud of the fact that our students, led by John Hurt, students started this scholarcreated the campus’ first-ever ship, and that it’s going to car show in October 2018. help many of their fellow Hurt, left, is joined by fellow classmates and NMSU Alamogordo President Ken The event hosted 10 different John classmates for years to come.”

Van Winkle, right. This group of students started a new scholarship endowment on car clubs, including 89 stylish #GivingTuesday to support students studying in NMSU Alamogordo’s automotive

The student group cars ranging from dragsters to technology program. plans to host their second car T-Buckets. show Sept. 14, 2019, to raise

“We realized by inviting our community to campus and additional funding to grow the endowment. The show accepts all bringing in these beautiful cars, it does a lot of good,” Hurt says, vehicle types and costs $20 to participate, but the event is free to who is now an alumnus of NMSU Alamogordo. “Not only do the public. Visit http://nmsu.life/show for more information. we get students a few extra dollars to take some classes, but at Angel Mendez the same time, we fill a need within our New Mexico communi-

#GivingTuesday 2018

by the numbers

1,477

896

512

783

Total donors in a 24-hour period

Faculty/staff donors

Online gifts

Alumni donors

TOTAL RAISED:

152

$2.1MILLION Catch the full recap online:

nmsu.life/GT

Student donors

Mark your calendars for NMSU’s fifth annual #GivingTuesday hosted by the NMSU Foundation on Dec. 3, 2019.

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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RIO GRANDE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Background: Students at the YMCA building during its construction at the then, New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1908, and now home to the Conroy Honors College.

COURTESY PHOTO

Front: In August 2016, William B. Conroy (seated) met with recipients of the NMSU Conroy Scholarship including (from left) Analyssa Martinez and Arianna Martinez, who were first-year scholars at the time, and Angela Kearns, Caroline Korte and Haley Stewart, who were second-year scholars then and are members of the first cohort of scholars graduating in 2019.

TOP of the class The inaugural cohort of Conroy Scholars graduates

By Melissa Rutter ’17

14 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

DARREN PHILLIPS

“In 2014, we started recruiting Conroy Scholars, and in the first year, we attracted six students. Now, we have 37. I’m anticipating we will have another 30 to 35 new Conroy Scholars in fall 2019,” Chaiken says. “We invite them to campus, and we have two days of events where they get a chance to meet other Conroy Scholars, they learn about their scholarship offers, they get to meet with professors in the field they are studying and they get a campus tour to see what the residence halls look like.

We really put out the red carpet, so they feel welcomed.”

According to Chaiken, NMSU is successfully attracting high-achieving students and is competing with elite schools.

“The Conroy program is unique in the way that we are specifically targeting and recruiting this group of highachieving students. We have about 80 students who have applied for the fall of 2019, and some of them will choose to go elsewhere,” Chaiken says. “But, our competition is not the University of Texas at El Paso or the University of New Mexico, it’s Stanford and Yale.”

The first-ever set of Conroy Scholars are Elena Davidson, Angela Kearns, Caroline Korte, Sienna Mata, Guadalupe Ochoa, Haley Stewart and Leah Stiff, who have majors varying from journalism to computer science to psychology.

In anticipation of the upcoming graduations, Chaiken has arranged for a stole to be given to the graduates to wear with their caps and gowns that recognizes their achievements as Conroy Scholars.

“We want them to have that special identity when they graduate,” Chaiken says.

Conroy believes the Honors College is providing the opportunity to attract and keep some of the brightest students and faculty.

“I think the reason why the Honors College has been such a success is the leadership the college has, the talented faulty who like the idea of teaching in the Honors College and the students who are the best ambassadors,” Conroy says. “Everything is really working well, and I think it gives added visibility to NMSU to have such a viable college among all of its great programs.”

At the 2002 dedication of the William B. Conroy Honors Center, Conroy spoke at the ceremony celebrating the renovation of the former YMCA building.

AMANDA BRADFORD

2

019 marks the graduation of the first-ever Conroy Scholars at NMSU. During their four years, all seven students have received opportunities that include interning for well-known companies and clocking countless hours in volunteer work with organizations and communities across the world. Thanks to their scholarship, they also are graduating debt free.

The Conroy Scholarship is named after William B. Conroy, who served as NMSU’s president from 1997-2000, following his service as interim president and provost. While at NMSU, Conroy was a strong supporter of the honors program, which included the renovation of the historic YMCA building that now houses the Conroy Honors College.

“When I first came to NMSU, I was very impressed by the University Honors program. It had two relatively small rooms in what was then the Hardman building, but it wasn’t in a visible location,” Conroy says. “The building it is in now was originally completed in 1907 to serve as a YMCA dormitory for male students. Then, later it was used by the Music Department, and still later by the Air Force ROTC before being closed for safety reasons. After I retired, it became a college.”

The renovated building was dedicated as the William B. Conroy Honors Center in 2002. Years later, the scholarship was also named in his honor for his hard work and his belief in the college.

“Bill Conroy’s legacy is found throughout the whole Honors College.

He was responsible for elevating the honors program to an Honors College and then helped with the fundraising to do the building renovation to make it habitable again,” says NMSU Honors College Dean Miriam Chaiken. “Under the leadership of the founding Dean William Eamon, the Conroy Honors College became the first Honors College in New Mexico.”

High school students who are National Merit semi-finalists or National Hispanic Merit semi-finalists are eligible for the Conroy Scholarship as freshmen at NMSU. The scholarship is a fouryear offer that covers tuition and other expenses, which requires students to maintain a 3.5 grade point average.

Honors College Dean Miriam Chaiken

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KARRIE LUCERO

JOSH BACHMAN

JOSH BACHMAN

2019 Conroy Scholars 16 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

ELENA DAVIDSON

ANGELA KEARNS

CAROLINE KORTE

During summer 2017, Elena Davidson worked as an engineering practicum intern at Google in Mountain View, California. The following summer she interned as an engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego, California, where she worked on one of its product test teams, and where she will return as a full-time engineer after she graduates with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Davidson has also spent several years serving as a leader in NMSU’s Young Women in Computing, an outreach organization aimed at increasing female interest in computer science. Davidson says one of her standout moments was in October 2018 when she was chosen as a Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions scholar. The organization aims to advance Hispanics in computing and only awards four university students in North America every year.

Angela Kearns is graduating with her bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics, and she will be returning to Nike, Inc. as a full-time software engineer. She first interned for the company during summer 2018, where she worked in a business systems analyst role.

She also interned with TRAX International at White Sands Missile Range as a software developer in summer 2017.

Throughout her four years at NMSU, Kearns participated in numerous city and campuswide volunteering projects, including serving food at Casa de Peregrinos Soup Kitchen, cleaning campus as part of the Keep State Great beautification project and helping with the NMSU Career Connections career fair. She also worked for Young Women in Computing, which gave her the opportunity to teach students about computer science at local schools.

Caroline Korte will be graduating in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and minors in counseling and educational psychology and child advocacy studies. She spent time interning at NMSU’s School for Young Children where she worked with lead teachers in the toddler’s classroom to develop lesson plans and integrate new children into the classroom.

Korte is also the vice president of the Student National Education Association and has volunteered every year in ASNMSU’s The Big Event and Keep State Great as well as at Jardin de los Niños. During the upcoming fall 2019 semester, Korte will be student teaching before jumping right into her teaching career after graduating. Eventually, she hopes to return to NMSU for her master’s degree.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

JOSH BACHMAN

JOSH BACHMAN

KARRIE LUCERO

JOSH BACHMAN

SIENNA MATA

GUADALUPE OCHOA Tucson, Arizona

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Yucaipa, California

Sienna Mata is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies and a minor in gender and sexuality studies. She has been an essential part of Kokopelli, a student newspaper, where she has worked as the managing editor, copyediting, assigning and posting stories.

Mata says living on campus has been a key element to her success academically and socially, and without the Conroy Honors scholarship, she wouldn’t have been able to afford on-campus residency. She came to NMSU a year after the other Conroy Scholars and will be graduating a year early. After graduation, she plans to move to California and work toward becoming a librarian.

Graduating debt-free as a Conroy Scholar has given Guadalupe Ochoa the ability to focus her time and energy on school without having to worry about student loans. She will be graduating in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary special education.

Ochoa was a member of the first group of Honors College Ambassadors and recruited students into the college.

She has worked with various summer programs for kids, including Camp New Amigos, which was a camp designed for children on the autism spectrum. She will also head to Costa Rica on a volunteer trip through the NMSU program, Global Citizens Project, which focuses on global leadership and expanding cultural understanding. After graduation, Ochoa is planning to return to her hometown, Tucson, Arizona, where she hopes to continue her education online at NMSU.

After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and government and minors in forensic science and economics, Haley Stewart will return to NMSU to complete her master’s degree in criminal justice and work as a graduate assistant.

In 2016, Stewart was a student panelist for the Domenici Public Policy Conference, and she received an internship with the Victims’ Assistance unit of the Las Cruces Police Department. In summer 2017 and 2018, she traveled with Aggies Without Limits, a student-run, international, community service organization, to Nicaragua and Puerto Rico to construct pedestrian bridges.

Stewart is also part of the Student Advocacy Board run by ASNMSU and traveled to Santa Fe to advocate for legislation concerning college students.

Stewart says being a Conroy Scholar for the past four years motivated her to succeed.

As a first-generation college student, Leah Stiff is graduating with her bachelor’s degree in psychology and minors in management and educational psychology. She has had two internships, the first through the Honors Internship Program, where she worked at TRIO Student Support Services as a mentor. During this internship, she researched practices that enable students to mentor their peers in higher education settings.

The second internship was at the Southwest Outreach Academic and Research lab at NMSU where she helped research education trends and needs in New Mexico and helped the directors implement projects to improve the education of students.

Stiff has also volunteered during Buddy Day for Autism Awareness, Walk for Alzheimer’s and at La Piñon. After graduation, Stiff will be moving to Spain to live for a few years before applying to graduate school.

El Paso, Texas

HALEY STEWART

LEAH STIFF

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Aggies, oh, Ag The history of the Aggie fight song Compiled by Josh Borchert, '08 PRIDE Band Member

1895

NMSU, then the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, glee club receives a rough draft of the first-ever fight song to sing.

1938

In a letter dated Feb. 22, 1938, to the Barnard A. Young Intercollegiate Music League, Hugh M. Gardener, dean of the School of Agriculture, gave Young permission to publish the words and music to the fight song in a book later to be called, “Officially Approved Songs of American Colleges and Universities,” which featured more than 150 songs.

1902

The fight song receives a name - “Oh, Didn't He Ramble,” which was a popular Dixieland jazz tune of the time composed by the Johnson Brothers and Bob Cole, a New Orleans songwriting team, used to celebrate life at funerals. In the words of the fight song, drinking and partying was an integral part of these Jazz funerals.

1907

The fight song is printed for the first time in “The Round Up.” Fun fact: Around this time, many colleges used the same fight song because most had not yet created their own. NMSU led the way.

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1921

On Oct. 4, 1921, a new fight song was introduced, which used Aggies for the very first time.

1909

Arthur Watkins, head of the music department, organized the Cadet band, which was the first marching band on campus.

ggies!

2018

Current PRIDE Marching Band Director Steven Smyth recently wrote a new arrangement of the fight song that fully embraces New Orleans’ Jazz. The band plays it on occasion but sticks to the traditional tune for most events.

1939

On Nov. 17, 1939, Percy Baldwin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, introduced a new fight song called, “Fight ‘Em Aggies.” Many questioned the song as it was originally used as a marching song by a fascist regiment during World War I and also by the Communist Party of Italy during World War II.

1941

1977

Between 1977 to 1983, Jerry Hoover wrote another version of the fight song. This version, arranged by Mike Stinel, is what you still hear played today.

On Nov. 27, 1941, Bonnie Miller, a former student of the college, wrote a new fight song for piano that she hoped to get arranged for the band. In “The Round Up,” she offers a $10 prize for anyone who could create the best name, but there’s no evidence anyone took her up on her offer.

1957

On Oct. 18, 1957, the fight song called, “Aggie,” written in 1921 was voted on by the student body as the official fight song of the college.

1961 Hear excerpts of the Aggie Fight Song over the years at:

Deming native Nacio H. Brown writes a new fight song with words by his brother Nacio J. Brown to the tune of “Love Me Tender.”

nmsu.life/FightSong

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NMSU alumni, faculty and staff make strides in creating programs for mobile devices

By Carlos Andres López ’10

T

hey’re on smartphones, tablets, watches and many other mobile devices. You use them with a tap of your finger and turn to them for just about everything: Need a ride? Want to binge on viral videos? Looking for love? Well, there’s an app for all that and more.

Millions of apps have flooded the market since Apple introduced the App Store more than a decade ago. Mobile app development is now a vast, multi-billion-dollar industry projected to employ some 14 million app developers by 2020. And, consumers are on track to download an estimated 352 billion apps to their mobile devices by 2021, according to industry analysts.

As a result, a growing number of creative minds from NMSU are ready to make waves in the app industry. Some NMSU alumni and faculty have already made strides in the field, developing sophisticated programs that educate youth and adults, help local business owners stimulate their enterprises and support agricultural industry needs in the 21st century.

Learning Games Lab

At NMSU, Innovative Media Research and Extension, a division of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Envi20 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

ronmental Sciences’ Cooperative Extension Service, has been at the forefront of creating educational, research-based games and media for more than 20 years.

At the heart of the operation is the Learning Games Lab, a research and development studio led by a LEARNING GAMES LAB team of ACES faculty, many of • Learning Games Lab has developed 28 apps whom earned since 2011 undergraduate or • Apps have been downloaded 1.3 million times graduate degrees • Learning Games Lab’s digital products, including at NMSU and later returned to animations, videos, learning games and apps, NMSU after com have been accessed 92 million times since 2011 pleting doctoral • https://aces.nmsu.edu/learninggamesinitiative/ work at other uni and https://apps.nmsu.edu versities. Faculty work with the lab’s production team to translate university-based research into media tools, such as games, videos, animations, virtual labs and apps.

“Everything we do is based around changing a person and putting research into practice – whether that be creating

JOSH BACHMAN

A software developer and programmer with NMSU’s Innovative Media Research and Extension, Frank Eshelman works on a game app in the Learning Games Lab. Since 2011, the lab has created 28 apps focused on educational topics with four currently in development.

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a game, an animation or a series of short viral videos,” says Barbara Chamberlin ’93, director of the Learning Games Lab. “We look at the changes and develop the technology that’s appropriate, and a lot of times, it makes sense to create apps.”

The Learning Games Lab has been developing apps for mobile devices in partnership with NMSU and other universities, agencies and nonprofit organizations for about a decade. Since 2011, the lab has created 28 apps covering a range of educational topics for users of all ages, and four additional apps are currently in development.

“From a livestock record app for kids to track their digital data for their 4-H projects to a game where you can develop your math skills or a plant database to look for plants on the Navajo range, it’s a pretty diverse app collection,” Chamberlin says. “All of it is based on research at the university. All of it is designed to help improve life for people.”

NMSU alumni, like Anastasia Hames ’16 and Philip McVann ’07, make up the majority of the production team at the Learning Games Lab. Hames, a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Creative Media Institute, started working for the lab in 2017, assisting with art production and animation. She has lent her talents to several projects, including three apps, and works closely with McVann, an eight-year veteran of the production team who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, to digitally replicate art mock-ups.

“I didn’t really know too much about this lab, but I really wanted to use my degree,” Hames says, “And, this is the perfect place to do it. I love working with the people here.”

McVann agrees. “I get to use my degree. I get to draw all day and be creative. But, it’s not just drawing. We’re doing scriptwriting, we’re doing storyboarding, we’re doing art and sound production. We have to wear many different hats,” McVann says.

Tasty Spot

For NMSU alumnus Todd Bisio ’94, the emerging brewery scene in New Mexico served as an inspiration for his first mobile app.

Bisio, a graduate of the College of Business, founded an Albuquerquebased platform company, Catapult Inc., in 2016. The following year, Bisio launched Catapult’s first product, Tasty Spot, a food app designed to bring new revenue streams to local food establishments and greater convenience and access to customers.

“We decided to develop a food app because of the growing brewery scene in New Mexico, and because we have a passion for stimulating local businesses,” says Bisio. “There was a lack of information about where local breweries and restaurants were and what they had to offer, and we wanted to fill the void.”

The solution? Bisio’s Tasty Spot.

Designed to showcase local businesses in the Albuquerque area, Tasty Spot has separate platforms for customers and vendors, such as local restaurants, breweries and coffee shops. One platform shows customers an interactive map of nearby vendors in real-time where they can browse menus, place delivery or pick-up orders and purchase food items. The other side of the app helps vendors accept orders, print order tickets, set prep times and customize confirmation codes.

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“We made a much more robust platform with two apps that talk to each other in real-time,” Bisio says. “I’m excited that we can offer a platform that’s lower in cost to restaurant owners and that removes all of the large-chain clutter to help stimulate locally-owned and operated TASTY SPOT businesses.”

On top of • Launched April 2017 by Catapult Inc., based in running his com Albuquerque pany, Bisio also • Offers customer and vendor platforms available serves as an ad for free in the App Store and Google Play viser at Arrowhead • 2,000 downloads since launch Center, an engine for sustainable • Developers expanding to other cities in 2019 economic develop• https://www.tastyspotapp.com ment housed at NMSU. That’s where NMSU graduate student Jonas Moya ’16 received help to start his agricultural-app company, Vidi Opus, and launched his first app, CattleCast, in 2018.

CattleCast

CattleCast equips cattle producers with the technology to trace their cattle as they move through the supply chain, using advance ear tags that collect information on each animal and blockchain technology to protect aggregated data. The app also helps mitigate risk and improve profits.

“Our goal is to provide users with a low-cost, all-inclusive platform that will easily collect and transfer data as the cattle move through the supply chain,” Moya says.

“With this insight, cattle producers CATTLECAST will be better able to take advantage • Launched October 2018 by Vidi Opus, based in of new markets Las Cruces and track the per• Only available in the App Store for $9.99 formance of their monthly subscription cattle, even after • 150 downloads since launch their cattle leave their operation.”

• Developer planning to expand app’s capabilities The current • https://www.cattlecast.com version of the app, available by monthly subscription, only features a basic break-even calculator. But, Moya is working with industry experts and business accelerators to expand the app’s capabilities based on consumers’ needs.

“With more affordable technology available and better reliable networks than ever before, there is no excuse not to incorporate technology into agriculture,” Moya says. “Let’s allow these tools to improve efficiency and profitability.”

JOSH BACHMAN

JOSH BACHMAN

Todd Bisio, co-inventor of the Tasty Spot app, talks with a class at NMSU about the business behind the app.

Students listen to Todd Bisio, co-inventor of the Tasty Spot app, discuss app development.

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on the

HORIZON

24 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

JOSH BACHMAN

HEMP

NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences looks to lead the state in new crop research

W

By Carlos Andres López ’10

ith hemp production now legal in New Mexico and nationwide, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at NMSU hopes to take the lead in helping hemp producers across the state become profitable and sustainable.

In response to state and federal measures that legalized hemp in 2018, the College of ACES is seeking to develop a $9.1 million research center devoted to hemp, a plant related to marijuana, containing less than 0.3 percent of the cannabinoid chemical THC.

The NMSU Board of Regents approved regulations in November 2018 allowing farmers in New Mexico to apply for a license to produce hemp as part of a new program administered by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Hemp production was then legalized nationwide the following month with the passage of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.

Hemp can be used to generate thousands of products from food, fuel and textiles to oils, medicines, furniture and construction material. The global market value of hemp is projected to reach $20 billion by 2022, according to NMSU researchers. Along with its profitability, hemp also offers agricultural benefits. It requires substantially less water than many other crops grown in New Mexico and flourishes in different climates and soil conditions.

“The College of ACES has the capabilities to help industrial hemp producers in New Mexico become profitable and sustainable,” College of ACES Dean Rolando Flores says. “We will direct appropriate, interdisciplinary and collaborative research at all aspects of industrial hemp production, processing and marketing and pass along our results to producers and stakeholders through the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station.”

However, Flores stresses that hemp research at NMSU will not happen immediately because the college needs to secure funding first for its proposals.

“It will take some time for us to be able to fully realize the ambitious idea of this hemp program. We are going to have to pick and choose what we do with limited funding,” he says.

In early 2019, the College of ACES detailed its hemp research and education proposals in a white paper. The proposed areas of research include production; genetics; valued-added; economics, industry development and marketing; and Extension and education.

Under the proposal, production research would focus on studies aimed at developing best management practices for hemp production at different locations in New Mexico, while genetic research would focus on finding genetic means to eliminate THC production and increase cannabidiol synthesis in hemp.

A separate value-added agriculture research program would determine how hemp could be used to add value to other commodities.

“Hemp could have many practical applications throughout New Mexico, such as absorbing heavy metal from soils, suppressing weeds and soil-borne pathogens and many other valuable applications,” Flores says.

Additionally, the hemp genetics and hemp value-added, agricultural research will be key components of NMSU’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems, a unit in development in association with the Agricultural Modernization and Educational Facilities initiative, part of General Obligation Bond D, which voters approved in November 2018.

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Laura Bittner, NMSU Extension family and consumer science agent in Valencia County, hands out a snack pack to a Los Lunas Century High School student. The Nutrition On Weekends project is providing food for students who lack consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life when they are not in school.

MEETING the needs of New Mexico NMSU Extension programs reach unique audiences around the state

By Jane Moorman

26 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

Nutrition On Weekends

While teaching nutrition classes at Century High School in Los Lunas, Laura Bittner, NMSU’s family and consumer science agent in Valencia County, learned from the students that food is not always available to them at home.

Since August 2018, dozens of community members through donations or time have made it possible to provide 176 students with a snack pack every weekend full of non-perishable food.

Part of that support comes from the NMSU Foundation’s “Make A STATEment” crowdfunding platform, which helped Bittner raise $12,360 from 91 donors to improve the quantity and quality of the snacks. Members of local churches are also donating food items and packing and transporting the snack packs to the school for distribution.

“This collaboration is ideally how we want our Extension programs to work, especially when you look at how great the needs are in some of our communities,” Bittner says. “The ability to address those needs isn’t accomplished by one person. It requires the community as a whole, stepping up to solve or address the issue.”

If you’d like to make a gift to this program, please visit https://mas.nmsu.edu/now.

4-H in the Schools

Stephani Treadwell, principal at Collet Park Elementary School in Albuquerque, turned to NMSU’s 4-H Youth Development program to spark her students’ success.

“Our students were not retaining the information they had been proficient in the prior week,” Treadwell says. “New information is retained when it is connected to knowledge already

rienced inmates teaching new residents who are involved in the GOAL program – Goal, Opportunity, Accomplishment and Learning.

“I’m trying to teach skills. Not just gardening but also landscaping and ideas and opportunities for starting a business,” Anderson says.

“Hopefully, when they leave incarceration, what they have learned here will keep them on the path to success."

JANE MOORMAN

gained through an experience, and the majority of our students live in poverty and have not had a wide variety of experience to link classroom learning to.”

She contacted NMSU’s 4-H agents Brittany Sonntag and Nicole Jacobs at the Bernalillo County Extension office in Albuquerque, and a successful collaboration began.

“We believe Collett Park Elementary is the first school in the nation to implement the 4-H club model and curriculum during the school day,” Sonntag says. “The results are amazing.”

The school has had an increase in student test results from 16 percent proficiency in language arts to 47 percent; an increase in school attendance from 23 percent chronic absenteeism to 7 percent; and a decrease in behavioral issues from averaging a couple of suspensions a month to none in the first half of the 2018-2019 school year.

CARLOS ANDRES LÓPEZ

JANE MOORMAN

A

s a land-grant university, known for its outreach programs through the Cooperative Extension Service, NMSU has the federally mandated task of offering community resources that address public needs.

With offices in all 33 New Mexico counties, the Cooperative Extension Service, housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, reaches a wide and diverse population through traditional agriculture, family and consumer science as well as youth development programs.

Among those programs, three help unique audiences – high school students facing food insecurity, public schools seeking experiential-based teaching and prisoners in the state penal system.

Prison Garden

Prisoners at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility are learning horticulture and the joy of growing fresh vegetables through an ongoing collaboration between Jeff Anderson, NMSU’s Extension agricultural agent in Doña Ana County, Sandra Lopez, SNMCF classification officer 2B Unit, and a cohort of 16 inmates.

The inmates have created a garden of 10 above-ground beds, containing a variety of plants, including asparagus, squash, beets, garlic, onions and jalapenos that thrive under their care.

What started as Anderson providing weekly gardening classes, has now evolved into the expe-

Top: Collet Park Elementary School third-grade student Gavin Bendall learns to weave during a 4-H club meeting.

The Albuquerque elementary school is seeing success from a school-wide 4-H program taught in the classroom.

Bottom: NMSU Cooperative Extension Service agent Jeff Anderson, right, speaks with an inmate in July 2018 at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility. Anderson assisted inmates at the prison in establishing a therapeutic gardening program in 2016.

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T

he motivations behind giving to NMSU vary widely based on the person and their beliefs in the university. Proud alumni give to keep their alma mater thriving. Corporations and foundations give to grow the future workforce.

Current students give to meet the needs of fellow classmates.

But, what motivates those people who never had a class on campus and will never walk across the graduation stage as an Aggie? They’re called friends, and out of hundreds who help shape NMSU every day, meet three whose impact has created legacies at the university.

ANGEL MENDEZ

By Angel Mendez

You’ve got DARREN PHILLIPS

NMSU sees growth in support from passionate community members

Frances Williams

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COURTESY PHOTO

Frances Williams (top right) started five endowed scholarships during the last two years at NMSU’s #GivingTuesday, one of which supports library student-employees who also major in history or study in NMSU’s Creative Media Institute.

ANDRÉS LEIGHTON

Although a native of Brooklyn, New York, Frances Williams has called Las Cruces home since 1952. Her career in government led her to White Sands Missile Range where she, then, served as one of few women in a male-dominated industry. Years of proving herself earned her one of the highest-ranking administrative positions for women at that time – the director of Equal Employment Opportunity – where she developed the range’s first affirmative action plan for women that became a model for other federal agencies.

Williams admits she has led a life of “trouble-making” to make change around her, marching to support equal rights in New Mexico and receiving dental treatment from an African American dentist despite almost being arrested. As a passionate advocate of women’s rights and civil rights, Williams believes more must be done, and she wants to help by empowering NMSU students.

Since #GivingTuesday 2017, Williams has created five endowed scholarships for NMSU students, the majority of which show preference to female students and incentivize their educational pursuits in the

Retired Col. Harry Hellmuth (top right) started a scholarship for the the Army or Air Force ROTC cadets at NMSU. After he passed away in 2018, he left 100 percent of his estate – equal to a half million dollars – to continue funding the endowment long into the future.

DARREN PHILLIPS

ANGEL MENDEZ

a friend in me My goal is to give the students every advantage when they go out into the world, so that they have the knowledge to make a wonderful impression on employers and be successful in their field.

–MARION LAWRENCE After her husband passed away, Marion Lawrence (top right) helped create the Bobby Lee Lawrence Academy of Wine in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. This new space expanded the number of classes for students and the educational outreach for the community.

fields of STEM, technical trades and history.

“My mother, an immigrant from Warsaw, Poland, always told me that education is important – it’s second to God,” Williams says. “Without it, you’re not going anywhere, and that’s why I wanted to support these students.”

Retired Col. Harry Hellmuth

While serving in the U.S. Army for 22 years, retired Col. Harry Hellmuth led many critical assignments. He worked as a commander of an 800-man field artillery battalion and headed a defense nuclear agency’s inspection team, which ensured the safety, reliability and security of the U.S. nuclear weapons inventory worldwide.

After retiring as colonel in 1976, Hellmuth had several businesses, including property management, realty and stained glass. Eventually, he moved to Las Cruces where he taught at Las Cruces High School before he began his career at NMSU, supervising the student teaching program at NMSU and planning for the future of NMSU’s ROTC program. After budget cuts slashed criti-

cal funding for the program, Hellmuth started making a series of gifts through his charitable IRA rollover to fund the Hellmuth Military Science and Aerospace Studies Endowment. This fund annually awards scholarship support to one or more cadets who are part of the Army or Air Force ROTC programs.

Soon after fully funding the endowment, Hellmuth passed away in 2018 but his impact lived on. As an 1888 Society member, Hellmuth left 100 percent of his estate – equal to a half million dollars – to continue funding the endowment long into the future.

Marion Lawrence

After retiring to Las Cruces, Marion Lawrence and her husband, Bobby Lee, made the community their home. Known as the “southwest wine guy,” Bobby Lee led a long career dedicated to educating the world about wine and food through festivals, blogs, magazines and more. In 2010, on the way home from a culinary event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bobby Lee died in a car accident.

Soon after, Marion acted to preserve his memory and impact. With a $250,000 gift, she helped establish the Bobby Lee Lawrence Academy of Wine at NMSU’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. This new space expanded the number of classes for students and the educational outreach opportunities for the community.

Yet, her giving to NMSU is not done. She currently serves on the HRTM Advisory Board and is a member of the 1888 Society where her estate will one day provide additional funding to support KRWG and an endowed fund and professorship for HRTM.

“Bobby Lee was a passionate man. Two of his favorite passions were wine and food and teaching,” Marion says. “There was an opportunity to create a legacy for him that would carry on the things he really loved and to have people know him. My goal is to give the students every advantage when they go out into the world, so that they have the knowledge to make a wonderful impression on employers and be successful in their field.”

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Alumni

Kim Baranowski ’97

Kim Baranowski ’97 recently received the 2018 Citizen Psychologist Award from the American Psychological Association for her sustained commitment to supporting survivors of human rights violations.

To promote the rights and psychological health of asylum seekers—many of them survivors of torture—she provides pro bono forensic evaluations that document the psychological abuse, while training other clinicians in these methods and mentoring students to conduct research on how human rights violations affect refugee well-being.

The Citizen Psychologist Initiative

recognizes APA members who engage their communities through public service, volunteerism and board membership.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree of fine arts in sculpture from NMSU, she went on to earn a master’s degree in fine arts at another university. She worked as a professional artist in New York for several years while pursuing advanced degrees in counseling psychology. Currently, she is the Faculty Director of Research at Mt. Sinai Hospital’s Human Rights Program and is a lecturer at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Minerva Baumann ’13

COURTESY PHOTO

Successes

COURTESY PHOTO

Keith “Mike” Ingram ’66

Keith “Mike” Ingram ’66 shares a connection to Hollywood icon John Wayne that dates back to 1987. That year, Ingram purchased ranches once owned by the actor, El Dorado Ranch and Red River Ranch, and started his Arizona-based real estate firm, El Dorado Holdings, Inc.

From Wayne’s ranches, Ingram grew El Dorado Holdings into a company that today manages a portfolio of more than 40 single-asset limited liability companies valued at more than $1 billion.

Ingram, who graduated from NMSU

Mike Mechenbier ’76

Mike Mechenbier ’76 is the president and owner of Sundance Mechanical & Utility Corporation, a central New Mexico construction company. But, that’s not his only success.

He is a board member for New Mexico Bank & Trust, and he is the co-founder of El Ranchito de los Niños, a sprawling home in Los Lunas, New Mexico, that offers permanent housing for siblings in need, which he and his wife, Kathy, founded in 2000.

30 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

“I’ve been lucky in all my business endeavors, and this was a way we wanted to give back to the community,” he says.

In addition to his construction company, Mechenbier, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, also operates 4 Daughters Land and Cattle Co., a ranching operation founded in 1986.

Carlos Andres López ’10

with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, is also one of the owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Born and raised in Roswell, he attended NMSU full-time and worked 40 to 60 hours per week to finance his education, graduating debt-free.

In April 2019, Ingram was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. The association recognizes the achievements of outstanding leaders who have overcome adversity to achieve remarkable successes.

Carlos Andres López ’10

PHOTO FROM NMSU LIBRARY ARCHIVES, 1987

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rom covering news stories in the rural Southwest to investigating gangs on the city streets of Chicago, Sonya Chavez ’89 has had quite the professional journey over the past three decades. That journey reached a new milestone in April 2018, when Chavez was selected as the new U.S. Marshal for the state of New Mexico. But, it was her time as a journalism student at NMSU that launched it all for her.

“The entire NMSU experience was absolutely a positive one for me,” says Chavez, who is the first woman to be appointed to the role of U.S. Marshal in state history. “The background that I got at NMSU really helped me develop as a professional in so many ways.”

Chavez grew up in Moriarty, a small town in central New Mexico. When it came to selecting where she would go to college, Chavez’s choice was clear.

“I was interested in pursuing a career in Sonya Chavez, New Mexico’s first female U.S. Marshal, grew her investigative roots at journalism, and I knew NMSU studying journalism. She later turned NMSU had a great jourher career of reporting about crime into one nalism program,” she says. focused on fighting it.

After graduating from NMSU, Chavez worked around the southwest as a broadcast journalist. Chavez, then, transitioned into her long-time career investigating gang activity for the FBI.

“In some ways, it was a culture shock, because I didn’t have a background in law enforcement,” says Chavez. “But I discovered there was a lot of similarities in my journalism background and the FBI. When you’re interviewing someone, you are either doing it to gather evidence or to get a confession. And that rapport building, I already knew how to do that. Little did I know, as a young journalist doing interviews in the cornfields of West Texas, When she wasn’t taking journalism classes, Sonya Chavez (second from left, first row) spent a lot that all that was preparing me in ways that I would not even apof time as a Delta Zeta sorority member, serving community organizations like Casa de Peregrinos preciate until much later.” and hosting campus events, including an ice cream social for new Aggie football recruits.

After 11 years fighting super gangs in the Chicago area, Chavez returned home to New Mexico where she continued working the gang detail through the Albuquerque FBI offices. After 23 years of service with the FBI, Chavez is thrilled to be serving the greater New Mexico area in her new role as U.S. Marshal.

“There is nothing more rewarding than being able to do important work in a place you call home,” says Chavez.

“Doing a public service job where you are protecting the community where you grew up in—it’s really gratifying and so exciting.”

Matthew Legaretta ’17

COURTESY PHOTO

New Mexico’s first female U.S. Marshal reflects on her NMSU roots

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

31

The Aggie Traveling Hat

I

t doesn’t have legs, but it’s visited 42 countries. It can’t talk, but it’s united 150 Aggies and counting. It, you ask, is the Aggie Traveling Hat.

This rugged, crimson-faded, NMSU hat isn’t human, but thanks to Benjamin Davenport ’01, it has come to life as an adventurous, Aggie personification over the last 18 years. Davenport, who works on government projects around the world, leads a group of NMSU engineering alumni who also work internationally on state or defense affairs for the military or government. Linked by the Aggie Traveling Hat, this group is building an NMSU global footprint.

It all started in 2001. Davenport purchased the hat inside the former campus bookstore inside Corbett Center, and he packed it when he moved to the Marshall Islands outside of Hawaii for his new career.

“A group of us Aggies were in the same area, and we were out on the water near a small island,” Davenport says. “We just got the idea.

We placed the hat on the edge of the boat we were on and snapped a photo, and from there, it took off.”

Since that day, the Aggie Traveling Hat has experienced the Japan World Series, rode an elephant in Thailand and visited the Outback in Australia – to name just a few notable adventures.

While the Aggie Traveling Hat has done quite a bit in 18 years, one adventure it has not

– and will never – go on is traveling through the mail. The hat is always physically handed from one person to the next.

“It unites people. Sometimes it’s through scheduled gatherings, but oftentimes, through random, chance meetings,” Davenport says.

Of course, with that many hands, the hat’s bound to get into trouble. Twice, Davenport remembers almost losing the hat – once in 2008 when someone’s luggage got lost, and again in Guam when it fell off a sailboat during a storm.

“We had to ask the captain to turn around to get it, and by the time we did that, the hat was water-logged and sinking. A buddy of mine dove in after it and came up with it on his head,” Davenport says.

Despite close calls, Davenport says the hat never feels like a chore but more like a hobby that keeps him from getting homesick for New Mexico.

“It’s brought together many different people from many different backgrounds and situations, but we all share the same story – we’re New Mexico State grads,” he says. “The hat is our token to stay connected and lets us celebrate our culture and heritage no matter where we are.”

If you’d like to connect with fellow Aggies through the Aggie Traveling Hat, email Davenport at benjamindavenport@alumni.nmsu.edu.

Angel Mendez

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

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From top: Benjamin Davenport poses in front of Hadley Hall in February 2019 with the Aggie Traveling Hat. It was the first time since the hat was purchased that it had returned to campus. It’s too busy traveling the world among hundreds of Aggie hands, visiting exotic places to see the nighttime skyline in Yokohama, Japan and ancient statues in Thailand. Its first picture ever was on the edge of boat as it sailed the blue waters of the Marshall Islands.

32 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

Minnesota Arizona New Mexico

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

NMSU alumna leads as state actuary

JOSH BACHMAN

JOSH BACHMAN

34 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

COURTESY PHOTO

A

s an undergraduate, Anna Krylova ’09 thought she wanted to be a financial adviser. But while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in finance at NMSU, she discovered a desire to study a field that was “more mathematical.” So, she opted to concentrate her studies in risk management and insurance and actuarial science.

With her sights set on becoming a professional who measures risk and uncertainty, Krylova graduated from NMSU with a bachelor’s degree in finance and an RMI concentration along with a supplementary major in applied mathematics. Today, she is the chief actuary in the Office of Superintendent of Insurance for the state of New Mexico.

“I received an amazing base knowledge in RMI studies at NMSU,” she says.

“The program’s leaders – professors Al Berryman and Tim Query – provided mentorship that was indispensable and helped me get to where I am today.”

The late professor L.E. “Lije” Pease founded the RMI studies program at NMSU more than 25 years ago. Today, it encompasses three pathways for undergraduates: an 18-credit RMI minor and RMI concentration for finance students, both offered through the Finance Department in the College of Business, and an actuarial science and insurance concentration for math students.

“There is high demand for jobs in the RMI/ actuary industry,” says Query, NMSU finance professor, who oversees the insurance studies program and the Actuarial Science Insurance and Financial Services Center. “At NMSU, students are taking RMI classes in record numbers. The benefit of having an RMI studies program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution is that more diverse students are entering the industry.”

Dozens of businesses and individual donors have contributed to the program. Every year, the College of Business awards approximately $23,000 in student scholarships, and John and Margy Papen founded an endowed professorship to support the faculty in actuarial sciences.

Given the high job demand in the industry, students who study RMI and actuarial science typically find employment more easily, Query says. Such was the case for Krylova.

“After I graduated, professor Berryman connected with the folks at Mountain States Insurance, and that’s where I started as an actuary. I stayed there for three years before I went to the Office of Superintendent of Insurance,” she says, noting the small but growing RMI and actuarial science industry in New Mexico. “Yes, actuaries are very much in demand.”

Carlos Andres López ’10

Anna Krylova

Top: Students in a risk management and insurance course listen to instructor Yolanda Hernandez discuss an upcoming course exam. Founded more than 25 years ago at NMSU, RMI course enrollment numbers are setting record highs, building a future workforce for in-demand careers.

Bottom: Yolanda Hernandez leads a risk management and insurance course, which is offered through the Finance Department in the College of Business.

AGGIE WOMEN

PETE'S CORNER

To make a gift to support an Aggie team, contact the Aggie Athletic Club at https://support.nmsu.edu/aac/ or call 575-646-5151.

DARREN PHILLIPS

Mexico State University themselves. It’s a nice cycle to begin and nurture.”

In 2016, the Torgersons and Schroeder made a gift to the Aggie swimming and diving team for the Wanda Glass Family Swimming and Diving Locker Room, which was named after Torgerson and Schroeder’s mother and included a lounge and coaching staff offices at the NMSU Aquatic Center.

The newest athletic team on campus, the NMSU women’s soccer team, also has benefited from philanthropy to improve its facilities.

After spending many afternoons watching their daughter, Micaela, play for the Crimson and White, Anton ’82 and Jayne Milavec wanted to help the team, and in 2017, they provided the funds for a new sound system at the soccer complex.

“We need good facilities to have them feel like they are competing against other schools at an equal level,” Anton says.

A year later, the Las Cruces couple donated funds for a new shade structure that provides a permanent home for the gameday operations staff at the soccer complex.

Through generous donations from many NMSU alumni and friends, the Aggie women’s facilities are transforming and helping the programs reach new heights.

Tiffany Acosta

COURTESY PHOTO

A

s an Aggie women’s basketball fan, Smoky Torgerson ’68 enjoys the adrenaline rush from watching the team earn come-from-behind victories.

NMSU recorded its fourth Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in the last five years in similar fashion with a double overtime win over UT Rio Grande Valley in March 2019.

Torgerson and her husband, Alan, became involved with the women’s team through her sister, Linda Schroeder. In that time, the couple, who reside in Albuquerque, has gotten to know head coach Brooke Atkinson and the team and wanted to help fund the team’s lounge renovation after seeing the facility.

During the 2018-2019 season, the lounge was upgraded with new flooring, new lighting, new furniture, including a desk area, a refrigerator, painting and graphics.

“Because they have a smaller audience, they have a smaller budget, so they have to really watch every penny they spend,” Torgerson says. “Anytime an alum can help somebody out in an area they aren’t going to have the funds to cover, I think it’s important for them to step up. When they succeed at New Mexico State University, they are going to go out and succeed beyond New Mexico State University and then come back and give back to New

JOSH BACHMAN

benefit from new support

Top: After seeing the NMSU women’s basketball team lounge, Smoky and Alan Torgerson wanted to help fund a renovation. During the 2018-2019 season, upgrades such as new flooring, furniture and lighting enhanced the space.

Middle: Sisters Smoky Torgerson, left, and Linda Schroeder unveiled the sign for a new swimming and diving team facility named after their mother, Wanda Glass, in 2016.

Bottom: Anton, left, and Jayne Milavec were honored at a NMSU women’s soccer game in 2018. The couple has helped to improve the NMSU soccer facilities with a pair of gifts for a new sound system and a new shade structure for the soccer complex.

Spring 2019 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

35

AGGIE PRIDE

Related by (Aggie) blood COURTESY PHOTO

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here’s a never a dull or lonely moment for Jaymison Miller who is one of 12 kids in his family. Jaymison, who graduated from NMSU in 2013 with two bachelor’s degrees in counseling and community psychology and Spanish, is one of eight siblings proud to be an Aggie.

Five of his siblings, Christian, Clayton, Aben, Addison and Leanora, are all currently attending NMSU with their majors varying from business to communications. Another sister, Lana, is studying at Doña Ana Community College to pursue a criminal justice degree. Jaymison also has two more younger sisters, Natasha and Sasha, who are taking dual-credit classes at DACC while still in high school.

Yet, Jaymison isn’t the only one graduated. Braydon, his older brother, earned his degree from NMSU in 2012 in information and communication technologies.

Jaymison picked NMSU because of the affordability and the chance to stay close to his family in Las Cruces, and although he is graduated, Jaymison’s not done yet. He has applied for the social work program and hopes to start earning his master’s degree in fall 2019.

He said the reason he wanted to pursue social work had everything to do with his family. Out of his 12 siblings, Jaymison’s parents adopted five of them.

“My family had a lot to do with my decision in what I wanted to do for my master’s degree,” Jaymison says.

“Being involved in my family has given me opportunities to work with a lot of people and help a lot of people in need. It’s something I’m really passionate about.”

While they might not all share the same genes, this family now shares an equally strong bond – Aggie pride.

“Having a lot of siblings at NMSU made NMSU feel even more like family,” Jaymison says.

Melissa Rutter ’17

NMSU is a second home for the Miller family, which has eight of 12 siblings currently in the NMSU system along with two graduates. Staying in Las Cruces and attending NMSU has allowed the family members, from top left: Braydon, Clayton, Jaymison, Christian, Colton, Leanora, Aben, Natasha, Sasha, Addison, Jason, Randi, Lana and Pauline Miller, to stay close.

Having a lot of siblings at NMSU made NMSU feel even more like family.

– JAYMISON MILLER

36 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2019

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