Planned Giving Impact Report 2024-2025 – UNM Foundation
Each fall, The University of New Mexico campus comes alive. The air is crisp with change, the newly renovated Duck Pond glows with autumnal hues, and the hum of students returning to a place that feels both new and familiar. It’s a season of reflection and renewal, when every leaf reminds us that transformation is built on cycles of care, commitment, and vision.
This year’s Impact Report reflects that same rhythm. The legacies represented in these pages, your legacies, continue to shape UNM’s story long after the ink dries on a bequest or the conversation that begins with, “What difference could my gift make?”
Because of you, students receive scholarships that open doors they once thought closed. Faculty pursue research that pushes boundaries and redefines what’s possible. New spaces are built where ideas take root and grow. Your foresight ensures that generations of Lobos will experience the same sense of discovery, purpose, and belonging that once inspired you to give back.
As the fall semester unfolds and campus settles into its familiar rhythm, we’re reminded that every act of generosity becomes part of a larger story written in the lives changed quietly, yet profoundly.
Thank you for being the visionaries who look beyond today and imagine what UNM can become tomorrow.
With gratitude,
DEIDRE SANDVICK Senior Vice President for Development
The
University of New Mexico Foundation
$345,166,030 CURRENT TOTAL OF DOCUMENTED ESTATE COMMITMENTS
GIFTS
2024 - 2025 By the Numbers
1889 YEAR FOUNDED
27,075 STUDENTS
73% OF STUDENTS RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID 50% FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS
3,642 NEW STUDENTS
400+ STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
200+ PROGRAMS OF STUDY
The Power that Knowledge Gives
Three alumni include the Presidential Scholarship Program in their estate plans
BY MICHELLE G. MCRUIZ
People often say that education opens doors. That certainly was true for three Phoenix-area alumni: Bob Johnston ’82, Annette Vigil ’86, and Erin Barringer-Sterner ‘06. As these individuals began to consider how they could create a legacy through philanthropy, they remembered the scholarship that changed their lives and decided to help create opportunities for a new generation of New Mexico students.
The Presidential Scholarship Program – now in its 50th year at UNM – is awarded to highachieving New Mexico high school students. It covers tuition, books, fees, and more. Formerly open only to undergraduates, the program launched its first Presidential Scholar Graduate Award in fall 2024.
Program donors have the satisfaction of helping students achieve their dreams at UNM. They also are matched with a Presidential Scholar and get to meet and make personal connections with these students.
“Fifty years of the Presidential Scholarship is a testament to our donors’ foresight and commitment,” says Terry Mulert, Director of the Presidential Scholarship Program. “As we look to the next chapter, we are excited to build on this legacy bringing dreams to reality for New Mexicans.”
All three alumni are former Presidential Scholars. The award was a deciding factor in their decision to attend UNM.
“I don’t know if I would have been able to afford college without the Presidential Scholarship,” says Erin. “It really opened a lot of doors for me. I was able to study abroad in my junior year, and it totally changed my life.”
When it came time to start his estate planning, Bob remembered how fortunate he felt to be a Presidential Scholar from 1977 to 1981.
“I had such a great experience at UNM,” he says. “The professors I studied under were so kind and generous with their time and knowledge. It was one of the best choices I made in my life, and to provide that opportunity for others seems like a fitting way to say thank you as well as to pay it forward.”
For Annette, receiving the scholarship was not only practical for her and her parents; it was an honor. She retired recently and started asking herself how she wanted to make an impact. The answer was clear.
“Education is so important,” Annette says. “It can help people make a difference in the world. James Madison said, ‘A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.’ I hope that by supporting a student in their educational goals, I’m helping in some small way to empower them.”
“Estate gift pledges like those from Bob, Annette, and Erin will ensure the scholarships live on forever and will inspire others to do the same,” says Terry Mulert. “We are very thankful for their generosity.”
BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION | Naming a person or organization who will receive an asset when the account owner passes away.
Annette Vigil ’86, Bob Johnston ’82, and Erin Barringer-Sterner ‘06
Human Capital Investing in
Carolyn Levy establishes scholarship to honor her parents
BY MICHELLE G. MCRUIZ
Growing up in Albuquerque, Carolyn Levy was very aware of the sacrifices her parents made for her and her sister. And those sacrifices have stuck with her. Now she is giving back to her home state by establishing the Robbie and Lyman Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund at UNM in honor of her mother and father.
After World War II, Carolyn’s father Lyman returned to west Texas where he lived with Robbie. They decided to make a fresh start in Albuquerque.
“My dad ran a Texaco station on Lomas, and my mom kept the books,” says Carolyn. “They worked really hard and didn’t make a lot of money. Mom would forego a new winter coat so my sister and I could have new clothes. But they wanted us to do well in school.”
Both daughters fulfilled their parents’ wishes. Carolyn attended Highland High School in the mid-1960s and, due to her good grades and the Albuquerque public school system’s excellent reputation, received a Regents Scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles. Her sister attended Stanford University.
“I wanted to leave home because I felt like I would grow more,” she explains.
Carolyn earned bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in psychology. After retirement, she contributed a lot to animal welfare but also wanted to “invest in human capital” and established the memorial scholarship for bright, hard-working New Mexico students in need.
“There are a lot of smart kids in New Mexico who don’t have a lot of money to spend on higher education,” she says. “It made sense to focus on UNM because, in my
opinion, it’s the best in the state. It’s a terrific institution with great facilities and the ability to provide great education.”
The scholarship is open to high-achieving students from New Mexico high schools who have significant financial need, enroll full-time at UNM, and major in a STEM field.
Carolyn loves receiving thank-you letters from scholarship recipients.
“You know that you’re making a difference,” she says.
She has also included UNM in her estate plans to provide future funding for the scholarship. Giving now combined with a plan to give later is called a blended gift.
“This type of gift really appealed to me,” she says.
“Giving now allows me to see the benefit while I’m still alive. The estate gift will go to the UNM Foundation, where I know it will be well-managed. A certain amount will go toward the scholarship and the rest will be invested and grow over time. This scholarship can go on forever, and that’s a beautiful thing.
“I want to help New Mexico students get on a path, become successful, and have good lives,” Carolyn continues. “My parents ingrained that in me. And I hope the recipients of the scholarship will, in time, decide to create their own scholarships to help future students.”
BLENDED GIFT | Combines an immediate donation like cash or assets with a commitment for an estate gift, often through a will or trust.
Carolyn Levy’s parents, Robbie and Lyman Jones.
In Support of Future Leaders
Albuquerque couple
bequeaths
their personal residence to Honors College
BY MICHELLE G. MCRUIZ
Leslie Donovan, ’82, ’86, is both a graduate and a faculty member of UNM Honors College. Her experience at the College – both as student and as professor – has been exhilarating and deeply fulfilling.
“I care about Honors College students deeply,” Leslie says. “When I was a student there, it changed my life, and now, my students help keep me sane.”
Leslie and her partner, Jeanell Pelsor ’83, want part of their estate to help sustain the Honors College, which
was founded in 1957 as one of the first interdisciplinary honors colleges at a major state university. Ultimately, they decided to make an out-of-the-ordinary estate gift: their house.
“We live close to campus,” Leslie explains. “I bought the house a long time ago, and it has been a huge part of my world. Jeanell and I decided it would be an appropriate gift to the Honors College.
“UNM Honors College can do what it wants with the house,” she continues. “I hope it can be used as a house for visiting professors, scholars, and students. But if not, UNM can sell the house and have the funds to use as needed.”
Leslie, who is Former Interim Dean of Honors College, has been teaching there since the mid-1990s. As a UNM undergraduate, she took an honors class and loved it. After earning her PhD in Old English language and literature at the University of Washington, she applied for an Honors College faculty position, thinking she would never be hired – but she was.
“The Honors College has a highly collaborative, community feeling that is very different from most departments in a university,” she says. “Each of our faculty develops their own unique courses, and the class size is restricted to 18 students. This has been a constant from when I was an Honors student through today. It gives students extra skills to make connections across ideas and disciplines and to interact and integrate. It pushes them to learn, grow, and evolve.”
Leslie says Honors College students are future leaders and changemakers. Many of them go on to pursue graduate studies and much more.
“We have had students go on to cure a rare form of children’s cancer, do important work in the field of water rights, and write books,” she says. “To be part of their lives has enriched me. Providing something like my house after I’m gone that will benefit future generations of students is one way to leave a legacy.”
Leslie and Jeanell thought about leaving the house to extended family members, but because she and Jeanell do not have any children of their own, Leslie considers students in the UNM Honors community to have served that role in her life. As a result, “it seemed reasonable to give the house to an entity,” she says. “And it allows us to provide for our Honors community, which has been so important to me and my development.”
| A gift of a specific asset, such as real estate, can be included as a charitable bequest in a will or trust.
Leslie Donovan ’82, ‘86 and Jeanell Pelsor, ’83
Endowments
Endowments honor and preserve a donor’s charitable intent, creating a permanent source of support for the students, faculty, and programs that discover, teach, and inspire for generations to come. By establishing or contributing to an endowed fund through the UNM Foundation, you ensure that your gift is carefully managed and continues to make a difference in perpetuity.
Examples of deferred endowments that will be established through a donor’s estate plan and then sustained forever:
Political Science
College of Fine Arts
Anderson School of Management
College of Pharmacy
School of Law
College of Nursing
Earth & Planetary Sciences
School of Architecture & Planning
Presidential Scholarship Program
Museum of Southwestern Biology
School of Medicine
Zimmerman Library Anthropology
American Indian Student Services
College of Education
School of Engineering
Graduate Studies
Baird Scholarship for Native American Students in the Arts benefits undergraduate or graduate students pursuing any degree at the College of Fine Arts.
Nick and Lynna Blea Fund for Student Success supports hands-on learning opportunities for Anderson School of Management students.
Roger Simms Family Dean’s Discretionary Fund Endowment benefits the needs and emerging opportunities at the School of Medicine.
Jones Stubenhofer Endowed Scholarship supports undergraduate students in Mechanical Engineering.
By including the UNM College of Pharmacy in our estate plans, we are sending a belated thank you. UNM provided guidance when I was in high school and financial aid when I was working while attending classes. Our intention is to help other students realize the rewarding life that a career in pharmacy can provide.”
- MICHAEL BEATRICE, PHD (BS ‘71) AND KIMBERLY BEATRICE
The UNM Foundation created the New Horizons Society to recognize individuals and families who have included UNM in their estate plans.
As of June 30, 2025, 742 members have joined the New Horizons Society.
IS UNM YOUR Secret Crush?
We’ve heard a rumor—you might be quietly smitten with the University of New Mexico.
If you’ve tucked us into your will, trust, or named us as a beneficiary, we’d love to be in on the secret. Whether you shout it from the rooftops or whisper it just to us, knowing your plans means we can honor your wishes and welcome you into the UNM New Horizons Society.
Your gift, promised today, fulfilled in the future, is a love note to generations of students, faculty, and the community we serve.
Let us know about your “crush,” and together we’ll make sure your legacy at UNM is every bit as lasting as your affection.
For more information, please contact Kelsey Gardner at kelsey.gardner@unmfund.org
The following professional staff can answer questions or help craft a planned gift that provides benefits beyond your lifetime and honors the purpose and intent of your gift. Contact us for more information on supporting any school, college, cultural amenity or other UNM program; student scholarship or faculty support; outreach, research, or patient support; or serving the general needs of the university.
