Brothers Share a Nuclear Family Connection

by Todd Fuqua

Brothers Mark (BBA 88) and Michael Padilla (BS 92) took different routes to achieve their careers within the Department of Energy (DOE). They are each on opposite ends of the U.S. Michael primarily works in the west and Mark mostly in the east, but they are bound by the ties of family and of their alma mater.

They’ve also found great rewards in working for the DOE intheir various capacities.

“I have enjoyed my career with the federal government,” Mark said. “Along the way, I have been fortunate to have received many tangible awards and recognition, but they do not come close to compare with the reward I’ve received from having met so many wonderful people throughout my career.”

“I have to agree with Mark,” said Michael. “Nothing compares to the people I have met and worked with during my nearly 18 years in the National Security Enterprise (NSE) and 10 years with the University of New Mexico.”

Mark, left, and Michael Padilla pose together with a model of the Fat Man bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki near the end of World War II.

Mark’s federal government career began shortly after his time at ENMU, starting with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington, D.C. After two years, the Greyhound Grad had found himself on what he calls a “fortuitous” path that led him to work on various governmental reform initiatives under the Clinton administration. This included serving as the executive officer for NSE, the nation’s nuclear weapons complex.

The NSE consists of eight contractor-operated sites across seven states, including the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oakridge, Tennessee (a manufacturing facility that provides key material for the Navy’s nuclear propulsion and a key component of nuclear weapons) and the Pantex weapons complex near Amarillo, Texas, the center for assembly and disassembly of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Mark’s team is responsible for formulating and executing these two plants’ budgets, and overseeing their mission’s responsibilities.

Currently, Mark is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, having telecommuted to do his job since March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Mark is busy making sure things are running smoothly, Michael is busy interacting with the public on behalf of the NSE, utilizing his public relations degree and training.

“I began working for UNM in Los Alamos, New Mexico,as a public relations executive. I then transferred to Albuquerque and helped promote the School of Engineering,” Michael said. “I discovered I enjoyed writingabout science and the people that made it happen.”

He later took a job at Sandia National Laboratories, then joined the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in Washington, D.C. He currently works for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and lives in Washington, D.C.

Both brothers were complimentary of ENMU’s role in giving them a leg up in their professions.

“The single greatest impact was the investing fundamentals I learned in my corporate finance courses,” Mark said. “The investing marathon versus sprint mentality provided a sound methodology that I have followed. That is what will allow me to retire at a young age.”

For Michael, it was the practical experience he got while working for The Chase, the ENMU student newspaper.

“I owe much gratitude to Dr. (Tim) Ashmore and his wife, Sue, who inspired me to get into public relations,” Michael said. “Dr. Ashmore had me talk with Sue at The Chase, and she put me to work right away. I have never forgotten the encouragement they gave me and the push I needed as a young college student.”

Michael and Mark are part of a larger family that all became ENMU Greyhounds, including sisters Alice Pino (BA 78) and Percy Padilla-Gurule (MED 80, BS 77) and niece Lisa Sanchez (BSE 00).

“We all received guidance and a push from our family matriarch,” Michael said. “Our mother (Rita Padilla), who still lives in our family home in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico, made sure all eight of her kids were successful in everything we did.”