About the President

In November, 2009, the Board of Regents of New Mexico State University appointed Dr. Barbara Couture as the university’s 25th president. Couture assumed the office in January, 2010 and now leads the land-grant institution with four community colleges, cooperative extension offices in 33 counties, a network of off-campus agricultural science centers and the university campus in Las Cruces.

Couture, who is known for her leadership in defining future issues for higher education, also chaired the Executive Committee for the Council on Academic Affairs for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) (2008-2009).

Prior to her NMSU appointment, Couture was the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Fall 2004 -2009). Couture also served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University in Pullman (1998- Spring 2004). She began her academic career as an assistant professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit in 1980, was promoted to associate professor, achieved tenure in 1986 and achieved the rank of professor in 1994. At Wayne State, she also served as an associate dean for curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts (1990-91) and associate dean for metropolitan programs and summer sessions in the College of Lifelong Learning (1993-97), where she was responsible for the management of six extension campuses.

An award-winning writer, Couture received the Outstanding Book Award at the 2000 Conference on College Composition and Communication for Toward a Phenomenological Rhetoric: Writing, Profession and Altruism. Her publications include six authored/edited books and numerous chapters and articles. She also sits on the editorial boards of two academic journals.

Couture earned her bachelor’s degree with high distinction from the University of Michigan (1970) where she also earned master and doctor of arts degrees in English language and literature (1973, 1980). Couture and her husband, Paul, met as undergraduates at the University of Michigan and have been married for 39 years. Paul is a registered architect, licensed in Michigan and Nebraska, who received his degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. He has worked as a project director, manager, and department director in architectural and engineering services for the University of Michigan, Washington State University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.