The Gamble Years
President Gamble Calls By: Robert Graham Dr. Steven G. Gamble calls Portales “home” and has since ENMU’s Board of Regents hired him in 2001 as the University’s ninth president. “President Gamble provided ENMU many years of stability and leadership, which allowed us to thrive, even in recent years when state appropriations have been reduced,” says former ENMU Board of Regent President Terry Othick (MBA 70, BBA 68). “Dr. Gamble’s tireless work ethic, his honesty, integrity and respect for students, faculty, staff and community is evident. He works for ENMU all day, every day. He respects and appreciats the work done by our state legislators and works to ensure they know the value ENMU brings to our state. We are fortunate to have Dr. Gamble as our president and wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement.” President Gamble will begin his retirement on August first from a role that he has known for a quarter of a century. He served as Southern Arkansas University’s (SAU) president from 1992-2001 before providing ENMU with 16 years of exemplary leadership. “Working with Dr. Gamble has been an amazing privilege. It is very rare to find a university president and a student body president working together on a consistent basis. I am fortunate to be able to know the legendary Dr. Gamble because he inspires me every day to become someone greater than myself,” says ENMU Student Body President Joshua Alvarez. President Gamble began his career as a director of admissions at Angelo State University (ASU) in 1976, a foundation that proved integral for Dr. Gamble, whose record for enrollment growth is remarkable. Under his leadership, ENMU reversed an eight-year decline in enrollment and initiated a 16-year period of growth of 67% from 3,583 students in 2001 to more than 6,000 in 2017. This consistent enrollment growth for ENMU occurred in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008 and its aftermath in the period from 2009-11 when the State of New Mexico cut ENMU’s funding by 21%.
As a Thank You
The ENMU Foundation has established a scholarship in Dr. Gamble’s honor. We invite you to contribute to ENMU’s 9th President Dr. Steven G. Gamble Endowed Scholarship using the envelope enclosed on the next page.
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Green & Silver | May 2017
According to ENMU Vice President of Business Affairs Scott Smart, “Dr. Gamble is a fiscal conservative who has always looked to make decisions that would not put the financial condition of the University at risk. He has a saying, ‘you always fund your recurring expenses with recurring revenue.’”
