Office of the President
About the President
Manuel T. Pacheco brings extensive experience to New Mexico State University from a number of university systems across the country. Land-grant universities are of particular interest to him after spending 12 years at the helm of land-grant institutions in Arizona and Missouri before his retirement in 2003. Pacheco and his wife, Karen, are the parents of three grown children and six grandchildren.
Pacheco's roots are humble. He was one of 12 children and grew up on a small farm in northern New Mexico. His parents were migrant workers in the sugar beet fields in southern Colorado. His father also had a day job as a laborer in the highway department and his mother took care of the children.
His parents' strong belief in the power of education led Pacheco and all 11 of his brothers and sisters to higher education. There are four doctorates among them and all 12 have completed academic and professional degrees. Pacheco's mother followed suit when she was nearly 60 years old and graduated summa cum laude.
Pacheco was president of the four-campus University of Missouri System from 1997 to 2003. He had originally wanted to retire by September 2001, but the Board of Curators persuaded him to stay on until August 2003. While president of the University of Arizona from 1991 to 1997, he dramatically increased federal funding levels for research--moving Arizona from being ranked the 22nd best public research university in the U.S. to 10th. Pacheco is president emeritus at both institutions.
From 1988 to 1991, he was president of the University of Houston-Downtown and president of Laredo State University in Texas from 1984 to 1988.
Pacheco received a bachelor's degree in Spanish and French-German from New Mexico Highlands University. He received his master's in French as a Fulbright student at the Université Montpellier in France and his doctorate in foreign language education from The Ohio State University.
His career in education began when he taught French and Spanish in New Mexico high schools in the early 1960s. He continued to advance holding faculty and administrative posts at a number of institutions including Florida State University, the University of Colorado, San Diego State University, and the University of Texas at El Paso. He was the Chief Policy Aide for Education to the Governor of New Mexico while on leave from UTEP.
Pacheco is widely published, a sought-after keynote speaker and has been a visiting professor at three institutions of higher education. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including being named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Magazine. He earned the Hispanic Achievement Trailblazer Award, Father of the Year, the Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award from the Hispanic Caucus of the American Association of Higher Education, the Distinguished Alumnus of The Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate from Elmira College in New York and a Fulbright Fellowship.
In 1998, the Consortium of North American Higher Education created the Manuel T. Pacheco Award, which honors achievements and contributions of persons or organizations involved in international higher education in Canada, Mexico, or the United States, and whose involvement has demonstrated substantial and effective contribution to the goals of educational integration, collaboration, and leadership.
Pacheco has served on several corporate boards including Warnaco and Asarco, and currently serves on the board of PNM Resources. In addition, he is a charter member of the not-for-profit boards of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), the National Security Education Program, and the University of Arizona Science and Technology Research Park.