Jerry With, CEO of Mountain States Insurance Group in Albuquerque, was among the major donors recognized at the NMSU Foundation’s annual recognition event in October.

“The Foundation’s fund-raising success is due in large part to the efforts of many volunteers,” says Rebecca Dukes, vice president for university advancement. “The university is doing a better job of telling its story and our alumni are more aware of the needs the university is facing as state funding continues to shrink as a percentage of the university’s total budget.”

Private funds are crucial for maintaining high-quality programs, providing student scholarships and endowed professorships, and assuring excellence for the entire
university, she says.

Notable donations in 2003-04 included $1 million from Mountain States Insurance Group for an insurance chair in the College of Business Administration and Economics and $2.7 million from the Scarborough-Linebery Foundation for two chairs in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics.

Foundation President Tom Mobley says the Foundation would like to continue improving the number of gifts from alumni.

“There is still a lot we can do to improve,” Mobley says. “I think the Foundation board has two main responsibilities – invest properly and assist the university staff in developing gifts to the university.”