NMSU Panorama-Spring 2020

PANORAMA New Mexico State University Alumni & Friends Magazine

Volume 75 Spring 2020 • FREE

SETTING the STANDARD NMSU commemorates the Amazin’ Aggies’ 50th anniversary +ALSO INSIDE: Giving Tuesday celebrates five years

Mirror, Mirror

The newest New Mexico “Art in Public Places” piece, “Mine Mirror,” on display inside the computer lab at NMSU’s Hardman and Jacobs Undergraduate Learning Center. In 2019, more than 3,000 members of the NMSU community uploaded files including thesis papers and lecture notes – anything they learned or gained knowledge about – to http://minemirror.net/. The data was then stored onto data drives that, once full, underwent a process to extract aluminum and other alloys from the drives. These alloys were transformed into the mirrors that make up the art piece.

PHOTO BY JOSH BACHMAN

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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HELLO, AGGIES!

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ike the rest of our country, NMSU is now operating in a new normal as a result of this pandemic that has fundamentally changed the way everyone operates. In March, we moved our courses online. Since that time, nearly all of our employees have been working from home. We’re even honoring our Spring 2020 graduates in a virtual commencement ceremony.

During this time, we’re keeping three principles in mind for everyone at our university:

• We must ensure that our students, faculty and staff are safe and secure;

• We will work to continue with academic progress, to the fullest extent possible;

• As we start doing things differently, we need to consider what we’ve learned during this process, which can make our university better and stronger going forward.

While we should all recognize that our world will be different from now on, we’re still very much connected to one another. In fact, it’s your connection to our university that allows us to do amazing things in support of our students and the communities we serve.

Because of the efforts of each of our NMSU alumni and friends, I’m confident that we will be a much stronger university coming out of this ordeal. Thank you for all you do in support of our great university.

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 Tiffany Acosta Assistant Editor Adriana M. Chávez ’19 Art Director Gerald Rel Contributors Amanda Adame ’19, Josh Bachman ’07, Minerva Baumann ’13, Eddie Binder ’12, Linda Fresques, Kristie Garcia ’07, Andrés Leighton, Carlos Andres López ’10, Reyes Lucero, Jane Moorman, Melissa Rutter ’17 Chancellor Dan Arvizu ’73 President John Floros

Dan Arvizu, Ph.D. ’73 NMSU Chancellor

T

he spring 2020 semester was an unprecedented time for our university, community and world. While facing the challenges of COVID-19, the NMSU system rallied to transition to online instruction and teleworking. In times of need, Aggies find ways to be resilient, generous and innovative and to help others.

While the spring semester was a surreal situation, hopefully, this issue of Panorama will bring you joy as you read stories of our alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends. The stories illustrate that bonds formed at NMSU last lifetimes. This year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Amazin’ Aggies 1970 Final Four team. We also have to thank all of our generous donors who have helped make each NMSU Giving Tuesday a success. This day of giving provides scholarships to students across the NMSU system and helps them achieve their dreams of higher education.

In addition, this issue features organizations such as the NMSU Community Puppy Raisers and GALS program that change lives.

I’ve heard from many of you asking how to help; this is what is so awesome about our Aggie family. In times of uncertainty, helping the Aggie Cupboard has an immediate impact on our students and staff. This food pantry provides needed resources for those facing food insecurity issues.

To donate visit https://mas.nmsu.edu/project/6947.

Stay well Aggies, we hope to see you soon.

President, NMSU Foundation Derek Dictson ’98 Associate Vice President of Alumni and Donor Relations Leslie Cervantes ’86 Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Justin Bannister ’03 ’13 Executive Director of Marketing, Web and Brand Management Melissa Chavira ’03 ’05 ’11 Director of Communications and Media Relations Amanda Bradford ’03 Director of Alumni Relations Rebecca Galves ’01 NMSU Alumni Association International Board of Directors Executive Council President Scott Sponseller ’96 ’98 President-Elect Carol Smallwood ’83 Secretary/Treasurer Michael Law ’05 Past President Tony Martinez ’96 ’98 Executive Council Members Nancy Flores ‘’88, Erika Swan ’95, Adam Thompson ’08

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

2 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

2020© 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

JOSH BACHMAN

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CONSTANT COMPANION

NMSU students train puppies for guide-dog school

CONTENTS

SPRING 2020

14 On the cover PHOTO BY JOSH BACHMAN NMSU’S 1970 FINAL FOUR TEAM REUNITES FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY

THE IMPACT OF GENEROSITY

NMSU Giving Tuesday marks five years of changing lives

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24

INSPIRATION ON THE MOUNTAIN

Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation established to help students realize higher education goals

A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

1970 Final Four men’s basketball team reunites to celebrate historic feat

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26

Bond between former professor, student leads them around the world

Outdoor program for girls promotes STEM education, fellowship

ON A MISSION

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CULTURE CRAWL

Museums, collections on campus offer unique experiences

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

FINDING THEIR FOOTING

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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AROUND AGGIELAND

New Regents Professors named

4 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

Staff members honored with social mobility awards

A key component of NMSU’s strategic plan, NMSU LEADS 2025, is to improve the lives of students by enhancing their social mobility, which is defined as improving economic status.

Two NMSU staff members were recognized with a national award for the university’s work in this effort. Tony Marin ’98 ’08, assistant vice president of student engagement, and Dacia Sedillo ’94 ’06, university registrar, accepted the 2019 Social Mobility Innovator award at CollegeNET’s Social Mobility Summit in Portland, Oregon.

“We’ve always known the work we do here is important, but to have a measure established at a national level is validation of the work we do every day with our students,” Sedillo says.

“New Mexico State is well poised to NMSU faculty, staff, students, alumni and leadership are position ourselves as a leader of social striving to enhance students’ social mobility. mobility success. Our students and graduates epitomize the true spirit of this award and the impacts that higher education has on improving the lives of our state, region and nation,” Marin says.

Tiffany Acosta

JOSH BACHMAN

JOSH BACHMAN

Derek Dictson ’98 has come home.

On April 1, 2020, Dictson returned to NMSU as the university’s new vice president for University Advancement. Previously, Dictson served as the senior director of development and principal gift officer at Auburn University.

“My family and I are excited to return to Las Cruces and NMSU,” Dictson says. “Multiple generations of our families also attended NMSU and dedicated their careers to serving this university and the people of New Mexico. It is an honor to follow in their footsteps and have the opportunity to make a positive impact upon this university and state that mean so much to us.”

Dictson has a master’s degree in public service and administration from Texas A&M and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and economics from NMSU. Dictson met his wife, Nikki, while both were students at NMSU. The two later became the youngest members of the NMSU Foundation’s 1888 Society.

NMSU recently completed a comprehensive fundraising campaign, where nearly 29,000 donors participated in raising more than $125 million to benefit students and programs across the NMSU system.

Adriana M. Chávez ’19

JOSH BACHMAN

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Dictson named VP for University Advancement

hree professors were recognized with Regents Professorships, the highest honor bestowed upon faculty at NMSU, during spring convocation in January 2020.

Rolston St. Hilaire, in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and Julia Barello and Graciela Unguez, both in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the accolade.

Nineteen faculty members and one department were also recognized. The Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award recipients were John W. Campbell, College of ACES; James W. Herndon and Jean-Paul Vessel, College of Arts and Sciences; Charlotte Gard, College of Business; Magdalena Pando, College of Education; Terry W. Armstrong, College of Engineering; Myra J. Garcia, College of Health and Social Services; Sonja De Vargas, NMSU Alamogordo; Jamil Al-Nouman, NMSU Carlsbad; Edward G. Lopez, Doña Ana Community College; and Connie Lyons, NMSU Grants.

The University Research Council recognized five faculty and staff in three categories with the Exceptional Achievement in Creative Scholarly Activity. They are Abdessattar The spring convocation award winners were honored in January 2020 at the Atkinson Abdelkefi, MeMusic Recital Hall. chanical Engineering; Nicole Pietrasiak, Plant and Environmental Sciences; Barbara Chamberlin, Innovative Media Research and Extension; Williams Gould, College of Business; and Mark Klaene, College of Arts and Sciences. The Engineering Technology and Surveying Engineering department received the Excellence in Assessment Award.

Jane Moorman

KRWG team wins Rocky Mountain Emmy award JOSH BACHMAN

K

RWG Public Media at NMSU has three shiny new trophies to add to its already impressive collection of accolades.

A team made up of KRWG production manager Joe Widmer ’88, producer Christian Valle ’05 and TV production supervisor Ralph Escandón received the 2019 Arts/Entertainment-Program Special Rocky Mountain Emmy, a highly competitive award with entries from four western states.

The winning show, the half-hour “Newsmakers-Best of Living Here,” features the best segments of the program “Living Here,” which highlights stories about the arts, culture and people of southern New Mexico.

“I’m thrilled to see our staff recognized at this prestigious competition,” says KRWG general manager Adrian Velarde. “We’re fortunate to have such a talented group producing this high level of content for our viewers in southwest New Mexico and far west Texas.”

“Winning this award means that our work is recognized by our peers and we have achieved the highest level of excellence in our field. It feels great to be recognized,” Valle says.

Adriana M. Chávez ’19

KRWG Public Media staff members (from left) Christian Valle, Joe Widmer and Ralph Escandón are the proud winners of the 2019 Arts/Entertainment-Program Special Rocky Mountain Emmy for their half-hour “Newsmakers-Best of Living Here” show.

Engineering student, Aggie soccer midfielder earns top honors

COURTESY PHOTO

A May 2020 graduate, Jessica McDow won the undergraduate poster presentation at the 31st Rio Grande Symposium on Advanced Materials in Albuquerque in fall 2019. She completed her chemical engineering bachelor’s degree after playing four seasons for the Aggie women’s soccer team.

“This is a clear testament that we have many excellent student-athletes at NMSU, and Jessica is one of the best,” says NMSU President John Floros.

Additionally, the Albuquerque native conducted a telecommuting internship at Sandia National Laboratories while balancing her coursework and soccer responsibilities.

“My mentors at Sandia have been understanding of what I have on my plate and were able to work with my schedule which helped out a lot. It’s all about time management and willing to sacrifice things that most people wouldn’t,” McDow says.

McDow plans to pursue a Ph.D. in material sciences and engineering.

Tiffany Acosta

If you told Eric Burton he’d be nominated for a Grammy Award as he wrote songs on practice pianos in the NMSU music building 10 years ago, he would have laughed.

Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada’s R&B/soul funk duo, Black Pumas, were the Cinderella story of the 2020 Grammys, receiving a nomination for Best New Artist alongside major stars like Billie Eilish. In 2019 they played sold-out tours in the U.S. and Europe.

Burton valued his time at NMSU. “I was immediately accepted and shown around to the open mics, music labs, house shows and befriended the people who hosted them. NMSU gave me my first extended music family. I just wouldn’t be who I am without Las Cruces.”

Black Pumas performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The band dominates the local music scene in Austin, Texas, where they are based, and took home the Best New Band trophy in 2019. Their breakthrough hit single “Colors,” from their self-titled debut album, has 14 million views on YouTube.

Amanda Adame ’19 Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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LIINA RAUD

Former NMSU music student gets Grammy nomination

AROUND AGGIELAND

Aggie Innovation Shop opens with state-ofthe-art equipment

Thanks to a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust to the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, a new botanic garden at NMSU’s Las Cruces campus will provide beauty and support ornamental horticulture research.

The garden, which will be free to the public and take several years to build, will be located along East College Avenue, within walking distance from the Las Cruces Convention Center, the Courtyard by Marriot hotel and NMSU’s Heritage Farm. It will be 81,000 square feet and include parking.

The garden will not only further campus research and educational missions, but also allow the Las Cruces community to appreciate and learn about the region’s native plants. Anyone interested in contributing to the garden’s educational space is encouraged to reach out to the NMSU Foundation at 575-646-1613.

The Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust supports education and research in the art and science of ornamental horticulture to foster human interest in shaping, nurturing and appreciating nature’s beauty.

Melissa Rutter ’17

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he College of Engineering has completely modernized its machine shop, replacing 1960s-era equipment with new, state-of the-art technology.

About $850,000 from the state of New Mexico, with funding from other generous donors, made the renovation possible.

In August 2018, the College of Engineering combined three facilities under the Aggie Innovation Space umbrella. The integrated facilities include the machine shop, formerly known as the Manufacturing, Engineering Technology Center; the Student Project Center, a fabrication laboratory; and the Aggie Innovation Space, a prototyping space.

“It’s a tremendous resource to provide hands-on student experiences and capstones - engineering students’ culminating senior projects,” says Gabe Garcia, associate dean of student success.

“It will also support research endeavors and promote crossdisciplinary projects,” Garcia adds. “Through our partnership with Arrowhead Center, entrepreneurs and New Mexico businesses can work with the Aggie Innovation Shop team to take ideas from concept to cutting-edge, commercially viable products.”

The Aggie Innovation Shop now has the capabilities for CNC machining ad turning; milling and turning; horizontal and vertical cutting; sheet metal bending, shearing and notching; water jet and laser cutting and engraving, welding and thermal forming.

Linda Fresques

The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management at NMSU bolstered its commitment to fostering careers in the hospitality industry by establishing the Marriott Hospitality Futures Center, dedicated to hospitality career development and education.

HRTM, in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, received funding to develop the center from a four-year, $400,000 investment from The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

Housed in Gerald Thomas Hall, the center opened in January 2020. It provides a designated area for students to research work and careers, hold meetings, receive career counseling, and take part in interviews with industry representatives for internships and employment.

HRTM program coordinator Andrea Arrigucci ’10, an HRTM alumna, oversees the center. With help from a grant-funded assistant, Arrigucci carries out the center’s initiatives to refine existing recruitment, outreach and professional development programs, and create career workshops for high school students, teachers, guidance counselors and community college students.

Carlos Andres López ’10 JOSH BACHMAN

REYES LUCERO

Investment helps HRTM launch hospitality career development center

REYES LUCERO

BEFORE

AFTER

6 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

RACHEL GIOANNINI DESIGN

Botanic garden to brighten NMSU grounds

JOSH BACHMAN

NMSU Regent Ammu Devasthali spoke at the grand opening celebration for the newest building on campus, Devasthali Hall, which is home to the Department of Art and University Art Museum. Devasthali and her husband Rama are champions for the arts in southern New Mexico.

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ith her wide-eyed windows open to University Avenue, Devasthali Hall introduced herself to the Las Cruces community Feb. 28, 2020, with music, performance art and words of praise and thanks, as NMSU leaders cut the ribbon on the new home to the Department of Art and University Art Museum.

NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu and President John Floros shared their gratitude to the community, while U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich sent representatives to share their congratulations on the grand opening of Devasthali Hall.

“This building is here because the voters of the state of New Mexico recognize the value of art and recognize the value of art in this particular community,” says Julia Barello, head of the Department of Art in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The new art facility supports a wide variety of media-based research in museum conservation, ceramics, drawing and painting, graphic design, jewelry, metalsmithing, photography, printmaking, sculpture and art history.

More than 1,600 people crowded together to see the architectural wonders of the building, take tours of the studios and classrooms, and honor the couple whose name the building bears.

Ammu and Rama Devasthali have devoted much of their lives to advancing arts in southern New Mexico. They have contributed just under $2.8 million to the arts at NMSU. The new art facility was years in the making with members of the community raising millions in funding for more than 10 years to support NMSU’s new art space, along with the $22.5 million general obligation bond approved by voters in November 2016.

“We know for a fact that in our great state of New Mexico, arts and

culture are strong economic drivers,” says Ammu Devasthali, the NMSU Regent who led local efforts to build the new art facility. “We are Guests toured Devasthali Hall during the grand opening celebration all vested in the February 2020. Community support and a $22.5 million general obligaarts, and that is tion bond approved by New Mexico voters funded the project. the reason why this facility, more than any other built recently on campus, has captured the imagination, not only of our students, faculty and staff, but also of the community of Las Cruces.”

The grand opening continued Feb. 29, 2020, with art workshops open to the public. The celebration also included the opening reception for “Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020,” the premier exhibition in the University Art Museum. However, the exhibition had to be converted into a series of virtual tours and workshops through May 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 related shutdown of campus.

“In the visual arts, we focus on research in materials and technologies to solve problems and express our ideas,” Barello says. “This need to express beliefs and construct self-identity runs deep in humans as evidenced by thousands of years of artistic expression. Art is a critical tool of communication, which never grows old and always remains relevant.”

Minerva Baumann ’13 Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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JOSH BACHMAN

New art facility welcomes community with architectural grace, appreciation

AROUND AGGIELAND

S

ebastien Tapia was in his second semester at NMSU when he took a chance to ask for an internship at one of the largest general contracting companies in New Mexico.

A first-generation college student, Tapia was visiting his father at Jaynes Corporation’s Albuquerque headquarters during spring break 2018. Armed with his résumé, he walked into an office and spoke to the first person he encountered, who happened to be a project manager.

“Luckily, the project manager saw something in me and interviewed me on the spot,” he says. “I later received a call from him saying that they could use me for the summer.”

By the end of his three-month internship, Tapia improved seven construction processes for a millwork

subcontractor. His work ethic impressed Jaynes Corporation so much that he was asked – and agreed – to continue his internship in Las Cruces while completing his bachelor’s degree in project and supply chain management from NMSU’s College of Business.

Tapia is now serving as the project engineer for a $13 million facility that will house a helicopter hub for the New Mexico Army National Guard.

He was recognized for his achievements last year when he was named the 2019 Construction Intern of the Year by HCSS, a construction software company, and won a $10,000 scholarship.

“I firmly believe everything happened the way it did for a reason,” says Tapia, who expects to graduate in 2021.

Carlos Andres López ’10

ASHLYNN ZAMORA

Award-winning business student lays groundwork for construction career

NMSU business student Sebastien Tapia was named the 2019 Construction Intern of the Year by HCSS, a construction software company. Tapia is an intern at Jaynes Corporation and is studying project and supply chain management.

TRIO Student Support Services peer mentor receives national award

8 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

COURTESY PHOTO

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s a four-year TRIO Student Support Services peer mentor at NMSU, Alicia Romero has changed the lives of many students – both academically and personally.

“She goes above and beyond to help her students accomplish goals and achievements they are unaware they are capable of. She spreads positivity and motivation to anyone who comes in contact with her on a daily basis,” says Bernadine Booky, NMSU TRIO Student Support Services mentor coordinator.

For her hard work and dedication, Romero was recognized as the 2019 College Reading & Learning Association’s Outstanding Mentor in November 2019 in New Orleans. A May 2020 graduate, Romero spent more than 400 hours mentoring students and more than 100 hours attending trainings while she pursued a bachelor’s degree in biology, wildlife management and conservation ecology.

“Mentoring is about empathy and using the skills that you are taught through trainings to help students in their endeavors,” the Roswell, New Mexico, native says. “It is about being a confidante and offering advice or resources when asked. It is about being a part of the support system for the student that helps them succeed.

“The biggest reward of mentoring that I have experienced is when the students share with you their accomplishments,” Romero says. “It’s the text messages that say, ‘I’ve made it into the program!’ or ‘I’ve passed the test!’ I enjoy celebrating in their accomplishments with them.”

Tiffany Acosta

Alicia Romero (right) accepted the 2019 College Reading & Learning Association’s Outstanding Mentor award from Ashley Lewis, a CRLA representative, at the organization’s annual conference in New Orleans. Romero was honored for her work as a TRIO Student Support Services peer mentor at NMSU.

AGGIE MILESTONES 130 years

Fabian Garcia enrolled at New Mexico Agricultural College in 1890, and eventually became the college’s first Hispanic graduate and a member of its first graduating class in 1894. He is famous for his pioneering work in chile, onions and pecans.

110 years A fire destroyed McFie Hall in 1910, better known as “Old Main,” 20 years after it was built. McFie Hall was named for John R. McFie, a judge, prominent Las Crucen and early supporter of New Mexico Agricultural College. McFie Hall’s

100 years

cornerstone still stands on the NMSU Horseshoe, next to the flagpole.

On March 31, 1920, students stood on the tower of Goddard Hall to survey and layout the letter “A” on Tortugas Mountain, starting a tradition of Aggie pride.

The “A” is located three miles east of campus, stands 300 feet tall by 80 feet wide, and forms a perfect east-west line with the International Mall, the NMSU Horseshoe and College Avenue.

15 years

More than $250 million was raised during Doing What

Counts, NMSU’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign, which was launched in 2005. The funds supported the creation of 13 new academic chairs,

65 years

Roger B. Corbett became president in 1955. During his tenure, New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was formally renamed New Mexico State University.

18 professorships, 323 scholarship endowments and 52 campuswide name designations of buildings, classrooms, laboratories and sports facilities.

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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AROUND AGGIELAND

AGGIE BRAGGING

rights

NMSU among Top 200 Colleges for American Indian students

NMSU recognized for best online programs

NMSU earned a place on the list of Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s Winds of Change 26th annual Special College Issue.

Published in December 2019, the issue is the only resource of its kind for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians focusing on a STEM discipline.

Major criteria for the selection were support for the American Indian student community and the graduation percentage of American Indian undergraduates.

For the third time since 2018, NMSU has earned a gold-level New Mexico Family Friendly Business Award in recognition for its workplace policies. NMSU received the award from Family Friendly New Mexico, a statewide initiative developed to recognize businesses that have adopted familyfriendly policies and practices. One of the most valuable benefits offered by NMSU is the Educational Assistance Program, a tuition waiver program available for eligible employees, their spouses or domestic partners, and their dependent children.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked NMSU programs on its Best Online Education Programs offered

by U.S. National Universities. A pair of NMSU’s online graduate programs improved in the standings. In 2020, NMSU tied for 43rd in criminal justice online graduate programs and tied for 131st in master’s in business administration online graduate programs.

NMSU’s online graduate programs in engineering also were recognized and listed in the 74th to 94th range.

Golf Course earns pair of honors

According to Golf Advisor, NMSU’s Golf Course received two accolades ranking in the Top 25 college golf courses in the nation and the Top 10 golf courses in New Mexico. The lists are developed by golfers’ reviews. NMSU posted a 93 percent recommendation rating for the No. 22 spot for college golf courses, and ranked No. 9 for golf courses in the state.

10 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

NMSU recognized for family-friendly policies

Faculty

Astronomy professor earns NASA medal for second time

The romance of space can’t compare to the value of data – just ask NMSU Astronomy Professor Emerita Reta Beebe (center). In 2019, Beebe received NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal for a second time for her expertise in archiving and making available worldwide all of the atmosphere-focused data returned by the Cassini mission to Saturn.

The Cassini–Huygens space-research mission, commonly called Cassini, was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn. Beebe’s 2019 NASA medal was for her work in coordinating the archiving of the Cassini data set to optimize access for current and future users. In 2010, she received the medal for her extensive service to the community, working on advanced planning and program reviews for NASA and the National Academy of Sciences.

“The Cassini Project and NASA owe Dr. Beebe a huge debt of gratitude for her ideas and support to enable the future for Cassini science research by planetary scientists, especially the next generation,” says Jon Holtzman, NMSU astronomy department head.

Minerva Baumann ’13

MINERVA BAUMANN

Department head named American Society of Horticulture Science 2019 fellow

More than 20 years ago, Rolston St. Hilaire joined the American Society for Horticulture Science as a graduate student.

Now, he is an inductee of the society’s 2019 class of fellows.

St. Hilaire, head of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and a professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, has published more than 130 publications. As an assistant professor, he developed six new courses related to landscape, ornamental horticulture and environmental stress physiology.

St. Hilaire also has contributed extensively to international horticulture. He has presented research findings at scientific conferences in Canada, Italy and Mexico and mentored and/or recruited graduate students from India, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Trinidad.

Currently, he serves as the ASHS International Division vice president, overseeing professional interest groups that deal with horticulture topics internationally, and ensuring that there are scientific talks, workshops and oral sessions to provide more information to scientists wishing to learn more about international horticulture. The ASHS is recognized around the world as one of the most respected and influential professional societies for horticultural scientists.

Melissa Rutter ’17

$1.5 million grant for bacteria research may impact antibiotic-resistance

KRISTIE GARCIA

COURTESY PHOTO

Successes

Biochemistry professor Paola Mera (left) investigates the mechanisms that guide how tiny life forms known as bacteria grow and reproduce. The long-term goal of Mera’s lab is to create ways to attack antibiotic-resistance, considered one of the biggest health challenges of our time. Mera’s $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund the equipment and manpower to help her team take their recent discoveries to the next level.

“We have exciting data that show the molecular machines that are involved in copying the bacterium’s chromosome and the machines involved in segregating the chromosomes are talking to each other,” Mera says. “And they’re talking not only in one direction, but they’re talking in two directions.”

By decoding the mechanisms involved in this essential communication for bacteria, the Mera lab can identify new targets for the design of effective drugs that interrupt the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Minerva Baumann ’13

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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AROUND AGGIELAND

Survey equipment donation helps DACC students become job ready

12 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

EDDIE BINDER

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ollege students entering the workforce in technical fields need to be familiar with the newest technology so they can step onto the jobsite ready to work. A donation of surveying equipment from two donors will give Doña Ana Community College Civil/Survey students hands-on experience in the newest survey technology.

Kery Greiner, a professional land surveyor from Las Cruces, and John Haynes, a professional engineer from Gallup, New Mexico, donated equipment to the DACC Drafting and Design Technologies department. The donated equipment includes three total stations used to measure distances and angles with high precision.

The donations are now used in DACC Civil/Survey Technology program classes to provide students training in the civil engineering drafting, surveying, Geographic Information System and land development drafting industries.

A May 2020 graduate with an associate degree of applied science in civil survey technology, Priscilla Zertuche appreciates the donation of equipment and the experience gained by using it in classes.

“I want to thank these donors because it helps students a lot,” Zertuche says. “I plan to go straight into the workforce when I graduate, and using this equipment will be very helpful for me as I start my career.”

“The Civil/Survey Technology program continues to grow, with support from the community, such as these donations,” says Eugene Hernandez, Drafting and Design Technologies assistant professor. “This technology will help students develop needed skills called for by the surveying industry and will help provide students with a seamless transition to either the workforce or higher education.”

The Drafting and Design Technologies program allows students to earn several associate of applied science degrees and certificates.

“The degrees in this program provide students with options,” says Chipper Moore, Architecture and Construction Technologies department chair.

For students proceeding onto the NMSU Las Cruces campus, these awards will help them enter into bachelor’s degrees in two majors. The Surveying Technology option creates a transfer pathway for students from DACC to the NMSU Geomatics Program.

Civil/Survey Technology also prepares students for transfer into the NMSU Civil Engineering Technology program.

Eddie Binder ’12

Priscilla Zertuche looks through a DTM Total Station while DACC Assistant Professor Eugene Hernandez observes.

Renovated mental health clinic opens doors thanks to donor, university support

JOSH BACHMAN

clinic upgrades. The project received the support of State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, who is a proponent of improving the behavioral health workforce in Doña Ana County, as well as increasing behavioral health services in the area.

“It feels more professional with the really nice artwork and furniture,” Adams says.

Brett Opelt, a third-year doctoral student in the CEP department, says he has been in the clinic since his first year and has seen the improvements first-hand.

“It feels more like an actual counseling clinic, especially now that we have nice furniture and soundproof walls,” Opelt says. “I think it’s just more inviting and more welcoming.”

Doña Ana County has only 4.31 behavioral health providers per 1,000 people, and has been designated as a mental health professional shortage area by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Part of the clinic’s future plans are to widen the scope of services offered to include learning disability assessments and psychological assessments.

Adriana M. Chávez ’19 JOSH BACHMAN

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formerly drab and cluttered space tucked away on the ground floor of O’Donnell Hall has transformed into a welcoming, comfortable place for students to seek and provide help.

The NMSU Counseling and Educational Psychology department’s renovated clinic opened at the end of January 2020. Thanks to support from the state legislature, NMSU College of Education interim Dean Susan Brown, Ashley Furniture and Abel Covarrubias ’96 ’98, the clinic has been given fresh coats of paint; new recording equipment, furniture and artwork; soundproofed walls and doors; additional counseling and observation areas; and white noise machines. The clinic will also receive a system to store health files electronically.

In 2019, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill to provide $100,000 to the CEP department’s clinic. The facility also added a state-of-the-art recording technology system that allows for each session to be recorded for training purposes.

Interim head Eve Adams says that with the help of Brown and NMSU senior government affairs director Ricardo Rel, they were able to inform state legislators about the need for the

Ellen Ijebor (left), an NMSU Counseling and Educational Psychology graduate student, works in the newly renovated mental health clinic, located on the ground floor of O’Donnell Hall. The department received support from the NMSU College of Education, the state legislature and donors Ashley Furniture and Abel Covarrubias to renovate the clinic, which is used to assist NMSU students and provide research opportunities.

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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JOSH BACHMAN

NMSU student Vanisha Sam received the Joel L. Granger Endowed Scholarship in 2019. The scholarship, which supports students serving as presidents of student-led organizations, is one of nearly 250 created since the NMSU Foundation initiated NMSU Giving Tuesday in 2015. Sam was president of the NMSU Pre-Pharmacy Society from fall 2018 to spring 2019.

The impact of

GENEROSITY 14 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

NMSU Giving Tuesday marks five years of changing lives

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By Carlos Andres López ’10 o understand the power of Giving Tuesday and its impact on NMSU students over the past five years, you need only spend a few moments with Vanisha Sam ’19.

A first-generation college student who grew up in northwestern New Mexico on the Navajo Nation, Sam came to NMSU in 2015 to pursue a degree in animal science. Four years later, she graduated with honors, becoming the first person in her family to earn a college degree. She’s now working on a second bachelor’s degree in nursing.

As she balances a busy school life with an internship caring for sheep on campus, Sam has less to worry about when it comes to funding her education.

That’s because in 2019, she received the Joel L. Granger Endowed Scholarship, which supports students serving as presidents of student-led organizations. It’s one of nearly 250 life-changing scholarships created since the NMSU Foundation initiated NMSU Giving Tuesday in 2015.

“It helps me to have access to the various resources that will help me grow as a person,” Sam says. “My family supports me as much as they can, so it helps them not worry about how they could help me pay for school. I can focus on how I can be a better leader and how I can make a bigger impact on tribal communities.”

It’s students like Sam who have inspired more than 8,700 donors to support NMSU Giving Tuesday since its inception, creating a total of 243 scholarships for students across the NMSU system through contributions and matching funds totaling more than $16.7 million.

NMSU Giving Tuesday donations reached an all-time high in 2019 when more than 1,200 donors contributed gifts over a single day that exceeded $3.6 million with matching funds. That year’s event was doubly successful for the NMSU Foundation, which met and surpassed its $125 million Ignite Aggie Discovery campaign, thanks to the Giving Tuesday contributions.

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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JOSH BACHMAN

Staff from the NMSU Foundation celebrate after learning they surpassed the $125 million Ignite Aggie Discovery campaign during the 2019 NMSU Giving Tuesday event.

NMSU Giving Tuesday owes much of its success to the generosity of individuals and businesses that come together each year in a collaborative effort to help the university further its mission.

“Our Aggie family is awesome. I am humbled by the number of alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students and corporations that have come together over the last five years to make such an amazing impact for our students and our university,” says Leslie Cervantes ’86, associate vice president of alumni and donor relations for University Advancement.

“The generosity of these individuals and groups is inspirational and really demonstrates the strong commitment to NMSU that we all share.”

New Mexico Gas Company, one of the top NMSU Giving Tuesday donors, has contributed $500,000 to the university since 2016, supporting programs in NMSU’s Arrowhead Center and other areas that help promote statewide economic development.

“NMGC and our parent company, Emera, recognized the key role that NMSU’s Arrowhead Center plays in educating and supporting New Mexico’s students, and its innovative

methods of equipping and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills they’ll need to succeed,” says Mary Homan, economic development and community affairs manager for NMGC. “By investing in NMSU and its students, we are investing in the future of New Mexico, a strong economy and its people.”

NMSU undergraduate Emily Liano, who is studying kinesiology and participates in the NMSU Student Foundation, was a first-time giver in 2019. Her motivation to make a Giving Tuesday donation, she says, centered on her desire to help the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Dance bolster its research efforts.

“For me, it made me feel really good, and it made me very proud of being an Aggie and wanting to help out as much as I can,” she says. “We students rely a lot on scholarships and donations, and Giving Tuesday is a great way for us to see that we can do our part, too.”

Scholarships established through NMSU Giving Tuesday benefit students across all majors and programs throughout New Mexico. But one created under tragic circumstances in 2018 will help support students with close ties to law enforcement.

Top: Pistol Pete, John Roberts, prepared his online donation during NMSU Giving Tuesday 2016 at Corbett Center’s Aggie Lounge.

Bottom: During NMSU Giving Tuesday 2015, student volunteers Cynthia Nunez (left) and Tannya Barba wrote thank you notes to donors.

16 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

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ANDRÉS LEIGHTON

The J.R. Stewart Endowed Scholarship honors the life of retired Las Cruces police officer J.R. Stewart, who died in November 2017. Created by the J.R. Stewart 141 Foundation, the scholarship will benefit NMSU students with parents or grandparents who are active-duty or retired law enforcement officers or who are fallen officers.

“J.R. loved kids and cops, and through the 141 Foundation, we take care of kids and cops,” says Shelton Dodson ’94, whose friendship with Stewart spanned 25 years.

Dodson says creating a scholarship was a natural fit to memorialize Stewart. After months of fundraising, Dodson, the 141 Foundation and many of Stewart’s family members and friends, presented a check during the 2018 NMSU Giving Tuesday event, formalizing the scholarship one year after Stewart’s death.

Dodson believes the scholarship will keep Stewart’s memory alive. “These students who are going to get it are going to learn about J.R.,” he says, “and they are going to continue his giving, loving ways for generations.”

For detailed information about scholarship opportunities, visit fa.nmsu.edu. To learn more about NMSU Giving Tuesday, visit support.nmsu.edu.

J.R. Stewart talks with a boy while on his patrol motorcycle. Stewart was a patrol officer with the Las Cruces Police Department for 35 years.

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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NMSU LIBRARY ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

In only his fourth season with the Aggies, head coach Lou Henson (kneeling third from left) directed NMSU to the 1970 Final Four. After falling to John Wooden’s UCLA squad, NMSU defeated St. Bonaventure for third-place honors and finished the season with a 27-3 record.

A Golden ANNIVERSARY 1970 Final Four men’s basketball team reunites to celebrate historic feat

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he most successful team in Aggie men’s basketball history returned to Las Cruces to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its momentous achievement.

All nine living players from the 1969-70 Final Four team and two assistant coaches gathered for a reunion in February 2020.

John Burgess, Jimmy Collins, Charlie Criss, Rudy Franco, Lonnie Lefevre, Tom McCarthy, Roy Neal, Chito Reyes and Jeff

18 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

By Tiffany Acosta

Smith, along with assistant coaches Rob Evans and Keith Colson, were honored at halftime of the Feb. 15, 2020 game. Head coach Lou Henson was unable to attend.

Team members who have passed away include Milton Horne, Eddie Huff, Sam Lacey and Bill Moore.

“To see all the guys again, it’s really a heartfelt thing to be here,” says Criss ’70.

“The reunion is great because I haven’t seen some of these guys in years and years, and to know they are still around, and

a couple of our guys have gone, but you think about that and understand what life is all about. Basketball is like life, things go around and you have to deal with it.

“We were a close knit bunch, and we knew we had a chance to do something that was going to be spectacular,” Criss says.

The team finished with a 27-3 record and set the standard for Aggie basketball.

Playing in a new facility, the Pan American Center that opened in November 1968, the Amazin’ Aggies made a run

JOSH BACHMAN

All nine living players from the 1969-70 Final Four team (from left) Charlie Criss, John Burgess, Roy Neal, Lonnie Lefevre, Jeff Smith, Chito Reyes, Rudy Franco, Jimmy Collins and Tom McCarthy, along with assistant coaches (seated) Keith Colson and Rob Evans, gathered for a reunion in February 2020.

“We were a close knit bunch, and we knew we had a chance to do something that was going to be spectacular.”

–CHARLIE CRISS

in the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual National Champion UCLA, 93-77, in the national semifinal game.

“We figured we could beat them,” Criss says. “I think if Sam (Lacey) didn’t get hurt we had a good shot to beat them because we were only down seven at half. We had some momentum going into the locker room but Sam was hurt and we got down a little bit about that.”

In the third-place game, NMSU beat St. Bonaventure, 79-73. Collins, Criss and Lacey went on to NBA careers.

“To see the guys, it’s kind of hard to imagine what we did,” says Reyes ’71. “It goes to show what kind of bond we had. All of us fought hard for each other. We had to be close. We weren’t going to lose that’s the way we looked at it.”

For fans who didn’t get to see the Amazin’ Aggies play, Reyes describes the team as “we had a little bit of everything. We had some excellent, excellent defensive ball players. We had a lot of good shooters. The main thing was we all played together, and

we had a good game plan. We knew what we had to do, and if we didn’t do it coach Henson would sit us. We all had a game plan and we all stuck to it and supported each other.”

A Yonkers, New York, native, Criss says attending NMSU gave him the opportunity to not only experience the other side of the country but to meet different people.

“I had only been in New York and hadn’t gone anywhere else,” he says.

“Being out here was a shock to me, but I knew when we started playing basketball and started practicing it would get better and it did.”

Criss’ NBA career included stints with the Atlanta Hawks, San Diego Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Reyes says his time at NMSU gave him the confidence that resulted in representing Mexico in the 1976 Olympics.

“It prepared me to travel all over the world,” Reyes says. “It seemed to me everywhere I went I was mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for any kind of tournament no matter where I was.”

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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CONSTANT C NMSU students train puppies for guide-dog school

By Carlos Andres López ’10

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PHOTOS BY JOSH BACHMAN ’07

s students filed into a classroom in Guthrie Hall on a Friday morning in February 2020, a yellow Labrador retriever named Scooby followed behind, wagging his tail until finding a place to sit. Christina Meechan, an animal science undergraduate, remained at his side the entire time. The two have been constant companions since Meechan started co-raising Scooby as a puppy in August 2019 for NMSU Community Puppy Raisers, a student organization led by Gaylene Fasenko, animal science associate professor.

The club, founded in spring 2018, works in partnership with Guide Dogs for the Blind, a California-based nonprofit, to train puppies in preparation for guide-dog school.

Two dogs raised at NMSU are now working as guide dogs.

Meechan and other student puppy-raisers are responsible for the 24/7 care of the dogs, which spend 14 to 20 months learning basic obedience and good public behavior at NMSU. Puppies raised at NMSU attend classes, participate in regular training sessions and explore campus – all with their raisers at their side. We captured Meechan and Scooby over two days in spring 2020.

8:45 a.m. Thursday: Meechan and Scooby cross Williams Avenue on their way to their first class of the day.

10:23 a.m. Friday: Meechan chats with a classmate in her introductory theater class as Scooby listens from underneath a desk.

20 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

COMPANIONS 11:30 a.m. Friday: After theater class, Meechan and Scooby meet their friends Melanie Coleman and Amstel at Corbett Center Student Union for lunch.

Coleman, a social work undergraduate, is raising Amstel, Scooby’s half-brother, for the NMSU Community Puppy Raisers.

12:50 p.m. Friday: Meechan gives Scooby a treat outside Gerald Thomas Hall on their way to the FIDO LAB.

1:32 p.m. Thursday: Scooby rests his head on the gym floor in Rentfrow Hall, watching students as they begin their dance class.

1:24 p.m. Friday: Meechan and Scooby, second from left, spend several minutes working on an exercise called ‘Puppy Zen’ – one of Scooby’s favorite activities. To learn more about Guide Dogs for the Blind, visit guidedogs.com.

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On a

MISSION Bond between former professor, student leads them around the world

By Adriana M. Chávez ’19

Kathleen Livingston Willson (left) and Thom Votaw first met when Willson became a student in one of Votaw’s classes in the NMSU College of Education. Over the years, the two have formed a lifelong bond and now travel the world as part of Votaw’s nonprofit organization, Teachers In Service, Inc., which addresses the professional needs of teachers of missionary children overseas.

22 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

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Thom Votaw and Kathleen Livingston Willson pose with Donna Shaver (center) during a trip as part of Votaw’s nonprofit organization, Teachers In Service, Inc., which addresses the professional needs of teachers of missionary children overseas.

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uring his nine-year tenure at NMSU, Thom Votaw ’74 ’78 taught hundreds of students as a college instructor and assistant professor in curriculum and instruction in the College of Education. While his teaching no doubt had an impact on every student, a lucky few have maintained a strong bond with Votaw since leaving the university in 1995.

One of the strongest bonds Votaw maintains is with Kathleen Livingston Willson ’90, who now travels the world with Votaw as part of Votaw’s nonprofit organization, Teachers In Service, Inc.

“Out of hundreds of students, I developed a strange chemistry with a small handful of them, and she and I developed a relationship that has lasted all these years,” Votaw says.

“I feel like he was a person who was really open and willing to take the time to mentor me,” says Willson, who is now a science teacher in Aurora, Colorado. “I feel like he’s kind of open to still mentoring me.”

The two see each other regularly. Votaw visits Willson and her husband in Colorado about four times a year, and the two travel as part of Teachers In Service, Inc., a Christian organization that addresses the professional needs of teachers of missionary children in countries such as Kenya, Guatemala and Mexico.

Votaw started the organization in 1997, and years later invited Willson to become a member of the organization’s board.

“We had spent enough time together that she had a pretty good feeling for what I was doing for missionary schools,” Votaw says.

Once Willson accepted Votaw’s offer, he immediately followed up with an invitation to visit a school for the children of missionaries in Kenya.

“Going to Kenya with her was a blind date even though we had gotten to know each other pretty well,” Votaw says. “We had never traveled together, especially to a third-world country.”

The two have since seen zebras and giraffes running in the wild during a picnic in Nairobi, and explored archaeological sites in Oaxaca, Mexico. However, the fun doesn’t happen until after the two spend time interviewing teachers, administrators and parents about the value of need for teachers for children of missionaries. These interviews are recorded and ultimately posted to YouTube.

They also set up future dialog between schools and volunteers working with Teachers In Service, Inc.

While conducting their work and meeting new people in the countries they’ve visited, Votaw and Willson have become even closer.

“He’s always been open to communication and discussion, and I think that’s an area of passion for him: how do we do this and how do we do this better? I feel like his passion for that has matched my desire to keep getting better and better,” Willson says.

She adds that the experiences working with Teachers In Service, Inc., has also impacted her personally.

“I’m able to meet quite a few people who are missionaries in the field, and the experience and wisdom they had to share was very profound,” Willson says. “It has changed who I am just getting to know and interact with them.”

For more information, visit teachers-in-service.org.

Thom Votaw (left) and Kathleen Livingston Willson traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, together as part of Teachers In Service, Inc., a Christian nonprofit organization Votaw founded. The two regularly travel overseas to visit schools for children of missionaries.

Out of hundreds of students, I developed a strange chemistry with a small handful of them, and she and I developed a relationship that has lasted all these years.

–THOM VOTAW ’74 ’78 Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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EIGHTSEVEN MEDIA

INSPIRATION on the MOUNTAIN Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation established to help students realize higher education goals

By Tiffany Acosta

24 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

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generosity. A university offered us a glimpse of possibilities and exposed us to a worldview that most of us could never have imagined. Blessed with amazing professors, counselors, coaches and staff, teammates and boosters, it was not difficult to realize that we were somewhere very special.”

At Giving Tuesday 2019, they established the Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation Endowed Scholarship. Cormier credits Greg Webb ’81 with the idea to create scholarships.

As of March 2020, the foundation is 100 percent funded.

Twelve Plus One is “dedicated to creating steppingstones for future generations to excel in their future endeavors. Their core values are: Honor, Excellence, Achievement, Resilience and Tenacity.”

Twelve Plus One decided to pay it forward by creating opportunities for deserving students in need of financial assistance. The scholarship will be awarded to students with a minimum 3.0 GPA who has demonstrated community service and possess leadership attributes.

Even with daily text messages, Twelve Plus One members have committed to an annual reunion to maintain their bonds. In 2020, the group returned to Las Cruces for a pair of men’s basketball games.

Cormier says he hopes other NMSU sports can create their own Twelve Plus One chapters.

“Maybe we won’t even stop there,” Cormier says.

“Maybe we will reach out to other schools. I know a bunch of ex-athletes from different colleges and maybe we will have different chapters at different colleges around the country.

How cool would that be?”

To learn more about Twelve Plus One visit the-heartfoundation.com. To donate to the scholarship visit support.nmsu.edu or call 575-646-1316.

Twelve Plus One members Dave Brunson Randy Burge Donny Chandler Cyrus Cormier Donald Dotson Rhonda Drew Weldon Drew* Phil Elders Nicole Gomez Randy Gomez Chuck Goslin Robert Gunn Betty Hayes Ken Hayes Albert “Slab” Jones Doug Jones* Bill Myers Eli Owens Notie Pate Ernest Patterson Richard Robinson Louis Sauceda Mark Temple Greg Webb Gil Williams *honorary members

JOSH BACHMAN

routine hike up “A” Mountain on one September 2018 day was a catalyst for a new organization. Through a little sweat and tears, the beginnings of the Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation were created during the 40-year reunion for former Aggie student-athletes.

During the trek, Cyrus Cormier ’80 asked the group to write three things that had most impacted their lives in the last four decades. And the group discussed the trials and tribulations they had faced, including losing a spouse or child, overcoming addiction and helping a child following a suicide attempt.

“From that day on, we said we aren’t going to wait another 10 years, 20 years, every day we have to be in touch with each other,” says Cormier, president of Twelve Plus One. “So we formed this organization and send out daily messages to keep in touch with each other.”

Between 4 and 5 a.m. every morning, cell phones receive a text message, and group members start their day with a breakfast for the soul note.

“Everybody will comment about it, whether it’s scripture, a writing, something personal, everyone will tag in and give their two cents,” Cormier says. “It’s a way for us to stay connected.”

Currently, Twelve Plus One has 23 members, NMSU alumni who were former men’s basketball players, coaches’ wives and daughters, along with honorary members who have passed away.

Twelve Plus One’s philosophy is “the dreams that we dreamed as college athletes pale in comparison to the dream we have today of serving others, particularly those seeking higher education. Four decades have passed since a community embraced us with loving acts of kindness and

Members of the Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation present a check at Giving Tuesday 2019 to establish the Twelve Plus One Heart Foundation Endowed Scholarship. As of March 2020, the foundation is fully funded.

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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JOSH BACHMAN

Wiebke Boeing (left) is the GALS program director and a Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Graduate student Lauren Samaniego, is a former GALS program trip leader but continues to volunteer with the program.

FINDING A their FOOTING Outdoor program for girls promotes STEM education, fellowship

By Adriana M. Chávez ’19

26 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

s a senior at Oñate High School in Las Cruces, Paula Macias wanted to accomplish something that was a little out of the ordinary for her.

She noticed flyers for the southern New Mexico and west Texas chapter of Girls in outdoor Adventure for Leadership and Science, or GALS, advertising an all-girls hiking trip in June 2019 in the Gila Wilderness. Macias, now a student at NMSU studying animal science, had never been hiking before. She worried about being the outsider of the group, since she was the only senior.

Luckily, the trip turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her to build her confidence, create lifelong bonds with the other girls in the group and explore her love of science.

“I had so much fun,” Macias says. “We all bonded because we were going through the same struggles, and it was good to be

Twelve area high school girls interested in STEM-related research and careers hiked through the Gila Wilderness in June 2019 thanks to the GALS program at NMSU. During the trip, the girls observed various wildlife while forming friendships with one another and learning how to survive in the Gila’s rugged terrain.

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with other girls who also liked science, girls like me.”

The experience also led Macias to her mentor, Wiebke Boeing, Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology professor at NMSU. Boeing was inspired to start the regional chapter of GALS in 2018 after receiving an email from the program’s founders, a group of graduate students at Duke University. The program encourages students who are underrepresented in STEM fields to pursue science careers.

Support for the program is provided by NMSU, local businesses and community donations so that the program’s participants and their families don’t have to worry about purchasing special equipment like hiking shoes or backpacks.

“Seeing the majestic beauty of the Gila Wilderness through the eyes of teenagers who had never experienced anything similar is humbling and deeply touching, and forced me to pay attention to things I had stopped noticing,” Boeing says.

In June 2018 and June 2019, groups of girls from area high schools have backpacked up to five miles a day in the wilderness, often navigating difficult terrain. They learn how to purify water and cook on camp stoves.

The girls also collected data based on their scientific observations in the wild for a special presentation that takes place after the group returns to the NMSU campus from their weeklong trip. Presentation attendees include family members, friends and faculty.

Macias said during her hiking trip, her group encountered a dead horse in a stream. The group stopped to take samples from the stream to determine how the horse’s body affected the water’s pH.

Not only do the girls learn more about science and STEM fields, but they also learn about each other. Boeing says one feature of the trip is a nightly campfire where the girls sit around and anonymously discuss their biggest fears or life questions. A hat is passed around, and each girl writes down a fear or a question, then drops it into the hat for someone else to pick out and read.

“Some of them write about not having friends or not belonging,” Boeing says. “But the bonding and friendships that happen during the trip are just mind-blowing and amazing.”

The trips often have such an impact, participants like Macias decide to attend NMSU to study science-related majors. She also continues to keep in touch with the other girls in her hiking group via group chat.

“Dr. Boeing helped me a lot even after the program,” Macias says.

“I like her and I trust her. She’s very passionate about what she does and helping people, and helping you become your better self.”

For more information about the GALS program, visit aces.nmsu.edu/gals/, or email Boeing at wboeing@nmsu.edu. To help support future trips, visit http://nmsu.life/supportGALS.

“Seeing the majestic beauty of the Gila Wilderness through the eyes of teenagers who had never experienced anything similar is humbling and deeply touching.”

–WIEBKE BOEING

NMSU FISH, WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION ECOLOGY PROFESSOR Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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F

ULTURE RAWL

Museums and collections on campus offer unique experiences

rom art to natural history to wildlife, NMSU has several museums and collections on campus that give visitors opportunities to view artifacts and tour exhibitions. Admission is free, and parking is available on campus weekdays after 4:30 p.m. and on weekends. Contact locations for possible temporary closures due to COVID-19 concerns.

Arthropod Collection

945 College Dr. Skeen Hall It’s one of the largest collections of arthropods in the state, with more than half a million specimens. Mainly used for research, teaching and outreach, the Arthropod Collection houses the work of more than 100 years of collection and identification and represents thousands of hours of work by many arthropod groups. The collection has become an invaluable resource to the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science, NMSU and the state as a reference for quick identification of arthropods.

The collection does not have visiting hours, as the curator tries to focus her time on outreach at community events and classrooms.

Hours: Made by appointment To schedule a visit email hvessels@nmsu.edu or call 575-646-5552. arthropods.nmsu.edu

Wildlife Museum

2980 South Espina St. Knox Hall More than 6,000 specimens representing major vertebrate groups, some even dating back to the early 1900s can be found within the NMSU Wildlife Museum. These specimens are a testament to the origin and historical distribution of wildlife in southern New Mexico and elsewhere 28 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

in the American Southwest. The museum is an essential part of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology. The collection is made up of about 800 lots of fishes, 200 specimens of amphibians and reptiles, 1,900 specimens of birds and 3,000 specimens of mammals.

Hours: Made by appointment To schedule a visit to the museum, contact curator Jennifer Frey at jfrey@nmsu.edu or 575-646-3395. aces.nmsu.edu/wildlifemuseum/

Zuhl Museum

775 College Dr. Home of the Zuhl Collection, the Zuhl Museum is part art gallery, part natural history museum.

The majority of the more than 1,800 beautiful specimens of petrified wood, fossils and minerals in the collection are on display at the Zuhl Museum including the largest and finest collection of petrified wood display in the country.

Displays are also available in the Zuhl Library and Gardiner Hall.

Hours: 12 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and second Saturday of the month 575-646-4714 zuhlmuseum.nmsu.edu

University Art Museum

1380 University Ave. Devasthali Hall NMSU’s Art Museum is housed along with the university’s Department of Art inside Devasthali Hall. The art museum’s mission is to serve as an academic environment for the critical analysis of visual art while making culturally relevant and conceptual practice accessible to the university and surrounding regional and border communities. The art museum curates original exhibitions and stewards more than 4,200 works in the university’s permanent collection, which includes the

country’s largest collection of Mexican retablos as well as contemporary and modern photographs, paintings, prints and graphics, book art, and small scale sculpture and metals.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday 575-646-2545 uam.nmsu.edu

University Museum

1280 E. University Ave. Kent Hall Through its care and maintenance of ethnographic, historic, ancient and contemporary objects, the University Museum preserves an important part of Southwestern and Border region culture and history. The museum collections are primarily anthropological (archaeological and ethnographic) with secondary collections in history and the natural sciences.

Hours: 12 to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday 575-646-5161 univmuseum.nmsu.edu

Paul W. Klipsch Museum

1060 Frenger Mall Ed and Harold Foreman Engineering Complex The Paul W. Klipsch Museum is a tribute to Klipsch ’26 and his wife Valerie, who have given the NMSU College of Engineering memorabilia from the audio engineering field spanning more than eight decades. Major exhibits include laboratory equipment and other items Klipsch used at NMSU along with a unique collection of Klipsch prototype speaker systems and commercial issues, which range from large auditorium horns to residential-sized systems, both corner speakers and rectangular cabinet units.

Hours: Made by appointment Call 575-646-3471 or 575-646-5247. engr.nmsu.edu/the-paul-w-klipsch-museum/

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Alumni

Deborah Blume ’94 ’04

A school counselor at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School in Greenville, South Carolina, Deborah Blume has worked in six states and three regions of the United States. But she never forgets the impact her time at NMSU had on her.

“I wish I could talk to all of my professors and tell them they truly prepared me for my work in the world,” says Blume, who was selected as South Carolina School Counselor of the Year by the Palmetto State School Counselor Association.

In January 2020, Blume represented South Carolina at the American School

Counseling Association’s Gala in Washington, D.C., and will represent the state at the association’s conference in June 2020.

Blume is now in her 25th year as an educator and continues to use the strategies and skills she learned at NMSU working with faculty members such as elementary school counseling Professor Mike Nystul; Eve Adams, who is the co-interim head of the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at NMSU; and former NMSU College of Education Dean Michael Morehead.

Adriana M. Chávez ’19

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Successes

Jesse Guardiola (left), a criminal justice graduate and officer in the Tulsa Police Department, received the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing in December 2019 for leading Tulsa’s efforts in Hispanic outreach and community policing.

The honor recognizes state and local law enforcement officials for exceptional efforts in community policing strategies, criminal investigations and field operations. Out of 700 nominations, the Tulsa Police Department was chosen as the top agency.

“This award is as much for me as it is

Bobby Brooke Herrera ’12 A 29-year-old man who grew up in a small town south of Las Cruces is now the chief science officer of E25Bio, Inc., and listed on the 2020 Forbes “30 under 30” list of healthcare entrepreneurs.

Bobby Brooke Herrera (right) cofounded E25Bio, Inc., with career researcher at MIT Irene Bosch and MIT professor Lee Gehrke. The company announced in August 2019 that it had raised $2.3 million in seed funding for its fever panel – the first of its kind to be able to screen for active 30 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

viruses. The panel enables a more rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases in time for patients to receive potentially lifesaving treatment.

“We need to get to a place where there is a just public health system and not an unjust public health system,” Herrera says.

In the next 10 years, Herrera hopes to develop better diagnostic tools that lead to a fairer healthcare system for people now suffering and dying in developing countries.

Minerva Baumann ’13

for the men and women at New Mexico State who challenge and change students’ lives every day,” Guardiola says.

Guardiola, a Ruidoso, New Mexico, native, continues his outreach to NMSU, traveling to campus three or four times a year to recruit criminal justice students for the Tulsa Police Department. NMSU Criminal Justice Department Head Dennis Giever said a large number of NMSU graduates have jobs with the Tulsa Police Department thanks to Guardiola’s leadership.

Amanda Adame ’19

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Jesse Guardiola ’95

IGNITE AGGIE DISCOVERY

by the numbers

With your generosity, the Ignite Aggie Discovery campaign reached our goal and raised $125 million.

$14.8

million in competitive private grants

28,646 donors and organizations participating

$8.96

$71.8

million for state-ofthe-art facilities

million for funds that make an immediate impact

$35.3

million in endowments that have a lasting impact

$55.6

million for programs and cutting-edge research

$7.81

$34.8

million for student support

million for award-winning faculty and staff support

Your support makes a transformational impact across the NMSU system for our students, our faculty and staff and our world.

thank you

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Professor sparks student’s passion, lifelong correspondence ensues

32 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

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T

he Bible’s poetry is meant to inspire the soul, but for one would-be minister, the words of an NMSU poetry professor led him beyond being a minister of education to life as a poet laureate.

Terry Lucas ’74 enrolled at NMSU in 1969 with a plan to enter seminary after graduation. He pursued a degree in philosophy but lacked enough English credits to graduate.

“The only class still open that fit into my work schedule was world poetry, taught by Keith Wilson.

‘You’re not going to like it,’ my adviser warned me. I didn’t particularly like poetry and never had enjoyed reading dead authors who spoke what I thought was a different language,” Lucas says. “However, in the end, he couldn’t have been more wrong.”

Lucas and Wilson developed a strong bond beyond the classroom.

After discovering his love for poetry, Lucas wanted to change majors, but his parents were against it so he completed his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and then graduated from the seminary in 1976.

Shortly thereafter, he joined the ministry of a West Texas church.

“After three weeks I realized that I didn’t belong in that church, in the ministry or in Texas. A month or two later I reached out to Keith in desperation with a letter, really a call for help.”

It took three months for Wilson to respond. He was moving and had misplaced the letter but answered immediately once he found it, giving Lucas a specific and thoughtful critique of his poems and encouragement to send more.

“This exchange of letters began a lifelong correspondence between the two of us,” says Lucas. “For the next 25 years on and off, I sent Keith poems and questions and he sent back comments and answers and encouragement. His letters gave me the confidence to continue writing, even though I was working full time in retail to support a family after leaving the ministry.”

Wilson also wrote a letter of recommendation that would help Lucas get into the MFA Program at Columbia College Chicago. Before Wilson’s death in 2009, Lucas and his partner, Janet Goodman, were able to visit Wilson and his wife in Las Cruces. Lucas completed his MFA in 2008 and by 2013 was working full time as a poet.

Today as the Poet Laureate for Marin County, Calif., Lucas remembers vividly how Wilson changed his life. While on campus in November 2019 for a poetry reading, Lucas took a tour of the NMSU Library and read through Wilson’s papers, including that first letter Lucas wrote to Wilson, in which a former student’s passion for poetry reached a professor who helped a fledgling talent take flight.

“It has taken me six years to discover that I have to write,” Lucas wrote. “Whatever else it means for my life I do not know, but I do know that I must write.”

Minerva Baumann ’13

Terry Lucas (left) and his partner, Janet Goodman, read letters in Keith Wilson’s papers in the NMSU Library. Wilson was a poetry professor at NMSU. The materials included Lucas’ first letter to Wilson, which started a 25-year exchange.

JOSH BACHMAN

Jennifer Cervantes ’04 ’07

How can parents get their middle schoolaged children to read more?

L

“

et kids choose their reading material whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, magazines, etc. Allowing them to fuel their minds and imaginations on their own terms is critical. And it’s okay if they don’t want to finish a book. Allow them the freedom to put it down and find something else of interest. You may find they prefer one genre over the next. Make reading fun. Go to the library together, read the same material and talk about it, see a tie-in movie and discuss the differences between the book and the film, and don’t underestimate the power of reading to a child regardless of their age. Finally, let kids see you reading. There is nothing more powerful than showing your own enthusiasm and curiosity.”

Cervantes, who writes under the pen name J.C. Cervantes, is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Storm Runner,” “The Fire Keeper” and “Tortilla Sun.” Her fourth book, “The Shadow Crosser,” will be published in fall 2020.

Compiled by Adriana M. Chávez ’19

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

33

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

David Bowdich, deputy director of the FBI, visited the NMSU campus in November 2019. During his visit, he spoke to a crowd of criminal justice faculty and students and local law enforcement. He also spoke with criminal justice students including Joseph Linares (right) and Alberto Renteria.

34 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

JOSH BACHMAN

H

e’s the third generation of New Mexico men to serve and protect, and now David Bowdich ’91 has the top job in the FBI not appointed by the President. As the FBI’s deputy director, he oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities.

NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu pointed to Bowdich’s accomplishments as a result of hard work and a great college education.

“We have Aggies in places all around the country,” Arvizu says. “I think that promotes the value of the education that they receive here. It demonstrates the quality of people who have gone to school here at New Mexico State University.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Bowdich joined the Albuquerque Police Department following in the footsteps of his father, who later became sheriff of Bernalillo County. Bowdich’s grandfather was deputy chief of the Albuquerque Fire Department. Bowdich began climbing the ranks of the FBI in 1995 and was named deputy director in 2018.

“Part of leadership is building teams,” Bowdich says. “I found people who are smarter than me, better than me. You don’t always have to have all the answers. You have to have people around you who can help you find the right answers.”

At a November 2019 visit to campus, Bowdich talked one-on-one with criminal justice majors seeking career advice at the mentoring center, and gave a talk to more than 120 criminal justice students, faculty and local law enforcement.

In response to a question from one of the students, Bowdich encouraged students to value their NMSU education against any Ivy League school.

“There is not one of those folks who is better than anyone sitting in this room,” Bowdich says. “There are some that have had exposure to other things that you might not have, but recognize that you’ve got skills. Whatever you choose to do, own it.”

Minerva Baumann ’13

JOSH BACHMAN

FBI Deputy Director offers advice to criminal justice students

PETE'S CORNER

WORKING FOR ‘A HOT DOG AND A COKE,’

Major League Baseball umpires started career paths as kids

MLB PHOTO

MLB PHOTO

W

ith two decades of experience as a Major League Baseball umpire, Doug Eddings achieved his dream of officiating a World Series in fall 2019.

“I still pinch myself saying, ‘Wow, I did the World Series.’ It was an incredible World Series. Every game I had 12 to 14 family and friends in the stands with me. It was great. It was worth the wait for 21 years to have my first World Series,” he says.

Eddings, a Las Cruces native and Mayfield High School graduate, tried out for the Aggie baseball team before going to umpire school in 1989.

“Growing up as a kid I loved the game of baseball and played it,” Eddings says.

“I umpired my first game when I was 12 years old for a hot dog and a coke,” Mike Everitt says. “I really enjoyed officiating.

I did basketball, baseball and even when I went to New Mexico State, I worked at Eddings the intramural department and officiated sports.”

Eddings and Everitt attended NMSU in the 1980s. An Aztec, New Mexico, native, Everitt received a music scholarship to NMSU. He went to umpire school in 1987.

They both made their major league debuts in 1999. Everitt, who umpired three World Series – in 2007, 2009 and 2015 – became a crew chief in 2017. He accepted a new role as an umpire supervisor in February 2020 and retired from on-field umpiring.

Looking back on his 33-year on-field Everitt career, Everitt says the highlight occurred in the regular season on June 20, 1996. It was his first MLB game, Toronto at Oakland, which Everitt had to call behind the plate.

“I’ll never forget it,” Everitt says. “I had to do some extreme breathing exercises to relax. The grass was meticulous and the lights made it seem like a day game.”

Tiffany Acosta

Pistol Pete’s 1888 locator

Since its successful launch in 2017, Pistol Pete’s 1888 Ale is a best-selling collaboration for NMSU and Bosque Brewing Co. The brew can be found at 72 locations statewide. Visit NMStateSports.com for a detailed Pistol Pete’s 1888 locator.

Alamogordo Albuquerque Alto Anthony Arroyo Seco Artesia Bayard Belen Bernalillo Bosque Farms Capitan Carlsbad Cedar Crest Chama Chamberino Chaparral Clayton Cloudcroft Clovis Corrales Cuba Deming Edgewood El Prado Española Fairacres Farmington Fruitland Gallup Grants Holloman AFB Hatch Hobbs Kirtland AFB La Mesa La Plata

Las Cruces Las Vegas Lincoln Lordsburg Los Alamos Los Lunas Los Ranchos Lovington Mesilla Milan Mora Moriarty Placitas Pojoaque Portales Questa Ranchos de Taos Raton Rio Rancho Roswell Ruidoso San Antonio Sandia Park Santa Fe Santa Rosa Silver City Socorro Sunland Park T or C Taos Tucumcari Tularosa Vado Vanderwagen White Sands Williamsburg

Brewed in the STATE of New Mexico Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

35

AGGIE PRIDE

Longtime staff member

To donate to the Doris “Ra Ra” Simpson Memorial Endowed Scholarship visit support.nmsu.edu or call 575-646-1316.

36 Panorama | New Mexico State University | Spring 2020

Doris “Ra Ra” Simpson worked at NMSU for more than two decades.

“Ra Ra,” a derivation of Grandma, was coined by her first grandchild Christopher Long, one of 12 alumni in her immediate family.

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F

or more than 20 years, Doris “Ra Ra” Simpson was a fixture on the NMSU campus. She worked as an administrative assistant for various departments including ag, chemical engineering, social work, anthropology and technological innovations from the late 1960s until her retirement in 1990. Simpson was known for looking out for students, and she even played matchmaker.

Mark Mexal ’75 met Simpson in 1972 when he was a work-study student in chemical engineering. Two years later she introduced him to her daughter Sandra ’77. Her daughter Laurie later met electrical engineering student Kevin Tittle ’79. Both couples would marry.

Originally from Philadelphia, Simpson and her husband Frank Brown Simpson moved to New Mexico in 1946 and lived in Hatch and Rincon until they moved to Las Cruces in 1957. The couple had four children.

“Although life wasn’t always easy, she raised four great kids and loved New Mexico and New Mexico State University,” Mexal says.

Simpson died in fall 2006 following a seven-year battle with cancer.

“After Frank Sr. passed away in 1973, times were tough, but Doris always found a way to make ends meet and help others through hard work and dedication. It is in that spirit that the Doris ‘Ra Ra’ Simpson Memorial Endowed Scholarship was funded in 2007 by family and friends,” Mexal says.

The scholarship is awarded to a full-time engineering student who is a New Mexico high school graduate with at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA as a sophomore, junior or senior.

“She left such an impact on all of her family members that it just felt right to keep her memory alive,” says granddaughter Stephanie Simpson ’02.

Twelve of Simpson’s immediate family members have graduated from NMSU including son Frank Simpson ’71 and his wife Kay Simpson ’88 along with grandchildren Christopher Long ’94, ’96 and his wife Linda Long ’96; Shane Long ’96; Molly Huey ’98 and her husband Heath Huey ’95. Even more extended family members have earned their diplomas and the next generation – Doris Simpson’s great-grandchildren – are currently on campus pursuing degrees.

“My grandmother had her quirks but she was such a loving and generous person that everyone she knew just loved her to pieces. We are still a very close extended family and we have her to thank for that,” says granddaughter Wendy Simpson ’96, ’99, ’07.

Tiffany Acosta

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cultivated family ties to NMSU

Celebrate your academic achievements Order a class ring The official NMSU ring is your lifelong link with fellow classmates, alumni and NMSU. The ring symbols are iconic reminders of the NMSU mission, our campus and our unique landscape.

Order your ring online at balfour.com/nmsu For more information contact the NMSU Alumni Association at support.nmsu.edu, 575-646-3616 or alumni@nmsu.edu

Make a STATEment

NMSU’s official crowdfunding platform Launched in fall 2016, MAS strives to represent a wide variety of student groups from every college and across the NMSU system.

No fees for students to use the platform, and they receive 100 percent of the donation. All donations through the platform are eligible for a tax deduction.

To learn more about current MAS projects, visit

MAS.nmsu.edu

Spring 2020 | New Mexico State University | Panorama

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PANORAMA New Mexico State University Alumni & Friends Magazine

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ML/5-20/454820782

HOMECOMING 2020 A Vision of 2020: Seeing into the Future Oct. 22-24, 2020

A tradition since 1926. On campus events include Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner, Parade and more Special class year recognitions for ’70 and ’95 Pre-game at the Alumni & Friends Tailgate prior to the NMSU vs. Louisiana football game

Register today at support.nmsu.edu/homecoming or call 575-646-3616 Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NMSUAlumFriends Download the NMSU Alumni app, available on iTunes and GooglePlay