Members

Larry Lujan, Chair, Albuquerque

Lujan is the President and CEO of the Manuel Lujan Agencies (MLA), New Mexico's largest independent insurance agency. The agency was founded by his grandfather, Manuel Lujan Sr., more than 86 years ago and has built a reputation for excellence. Lujan earned his bachelor's in management and marketing from NMSU in 1976 and earned his Certified Insurance Counselor, CIC, designation in 1988. He played on NMSU's golf team in 1975 and 1976. He currently serves on the NMSU Foundation Board. Lujan has served as the President of Intersure, a consortium of 41 large insurance and risk management firms. He also served as President of Columbine Insurance Company, a captive insurance company owned by a large group of agencies in the western United States. In addition, Lujan is a former member of Albuquerque Economic Development Inc. and the Albuquerque Public Schools Foundation.

Festus Addo-Yobo, Las Cruces

Addo-Yobo has served as the director of NMSU's Black Programs since 2005. Prior to that he was director of African-American Student Services at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn., and director of the African American Learning Resource Center at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, Minn. He also was an academic counselor at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill., and a master's in education with a focus on student affairs at Western Kentucky University.

Felicia Casados, Grants

Casados has been President of New Mexico State University Grants since July 2005. In 2004-2005 she was selected to participate in a Kellogg Foundation funded collaborative higher education leadership program to develop the next generation of college presidents to serve our nation's minority-serving higher education institutions; shortly thereafter she was selected as NMSU Grants President. She was a cohort member of the NMSU Community College Leadership Ed.D. Program and holds two master's degrees in bilingual education and business administration and an undergraduate degree in home economics. She is the chair of the Rural Community College Alliance, a national organization of rural community colleges throughout the U.S., as well as the chair of the New Mexico Association of Community Colleges. She has participated as a U.S. Fulbright Fellow exploring the South African Higher Education System.

Ramon Dominguez, El Paso

Dominguez has been a faculty member in the NMSU College of Education's Department of Educational Management and Development since 2001. He currently serves as the Stan Fulton Chair for the Improvement of Border and Rural Schools. He previously was president of El Paso Community College and had also served as EPCC's executive vice president, associate vice president for student services, and in various other roles over a 30-year period. He also has served NMSU as the interim NMSU Carlsbad president and as an interim associate provost. Dominguez has a bachelor's in secondary education and a master's in counseling and guidance from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Specialist in Education and Ph.D. in educational administration from NMSU. He is a licensed professional counselor in Texas.

Monica Dunivan, Las Cruces

Dunivan, associate veterans programs coordinator, joined NMSU Military and Veterans Programs in October 2010. She transferred to Military and Veterans Programs after five years at the Office of Facilities and Services. Before working with facilities, Dunivan worked at the NMSU Office of the Registrar. Dunivan has been a member of NMSU Employee Council since early 2012. She works with more than 600 veteran and military-related students at the NMSU-Las Cruces campus to ensure they receive the education benefits they are entitled to. She also guides students to valuable campus resources, as well as other administrative tasks. She is completing her degree in library science. Dunivan previously held the position of Chair-Elect for the local chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals. She is also a member of the Western Association of Veterans Education Specialists (W.A.V.E.S).

Paul Gutierrez, Santa Fe

Gutierrez is the Executive Director for the New Mexico Association of Counties, an umbrella organization for county elected officials and employees. He has a bachelor's in agricultural economics from New Mexico State University. Gutierrez has served as the Deputy Director of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Bethesda, Md. Previously, he served in several key posts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and as State Director for both the Rural Development and Farm Service agencies in New Mexico. Gutierrez served six years as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau. In the 1990s, he also served as a consultant to Farm Credit Services of New Mexico and was Assistant Vice President of Credit for the Production Credit Association of New Mexico.

Debra Hicks, Hobbs

Hicks joined Pettigrew and Associates PA, an engineering, surveying and testing company, as an engineer in 1984 after graduating from NMSU. After several years of successful project completion, she purchased the firm in 1990 and is now sole owner and principal engineer. Hicks is responsible for public relations, corporate development and all aspects of projects. Her expertise in researching, writing and expediting funding applications for grants and loans is an instrumental service to clients. Throughout her more than 30-year career, Hicks has had various project management responsibilities including preliminary design, applications for funds, soils investigations, civil design, bidding and negotiating services, construction engineering, inspection, staking, and project closeout, as well as overall assistance with any issues that may arise. In addition, Hicks has developed and maintains important ties both locally and throughout New Mexico. She has served as chair of the Board of Trustees for University of the Southwest and chair of the New Mexico Junior College Foundation Board.

Jerean Hutchinson, Las Cruces

Hutchinson is co-owner of the famed La Posta de Mesilla restaurant. La Posta was recognized in 2001 as the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. She also was finalist for the 2004 New Mexico Restaurateur of the Year. She received the YWCA 2005 Reach Award for Women Who Make a Difference and in 2010 received NMSU's James F. Cole Memorial Award for Service. She has a bachelor's in business systems analysis from NMSU and a master's from George Washington University. She serves on the NMSU Business Advisory Council and is past president of the Las Cruces Catholic School Board and the Old Mesilla Association.

Judy Johnson, Nambe

Johnson is a certified public accountant whose career experience over 30 years includes public accounting, private industry and local government. During 15 years working for the City of Houston, she served in several capacities, including city controller and director of finance and administration. She attended NMSU for three years before transferring to the University of Houston where she finished her degree in accounting. She serves on the NMSU College of Education's Board of Advocates and on the College of Business Advisory Council. Johnson and her husband, Michael, have made generous contributions to NMSU, establishing the first endowed chair in the Department of Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences; creating the Lionel Haight Professorship in accounting in the College of Business; and establishing the Daisy Gray Undergraduate Endowed Scholarship in the College of Education. They have also contributed to the university's Center for the Arts.

Tim Ketelaar, Las Cruces

Ketelaar is an associate professor in the NMSU Department of Psychology and serves as chair of the NMSU Faculty Senate. Ketelaar has been teaching in the Honors College since 2003 and in 2009 he was the recipient of the Donald C. Roush Teaching Award for Excellence. Ketelaar has chaired the Undergraduate Program Committee in the Department of Psychology since 2006 and participated in the 2010-2011 Cohort of the NMSU Advancing Leaders Training program. His research and teaching focuses on the science of human emotion. He has served on numerous National Science Foundation review panels and is on the editorial board for five scholarly journals. He has been an active member of the NMSU faculty senate for two terms, including serving for one year as vice chair. He currently serves as chair of the senate's working group on compensation.

Michael Morehead, Las Cruces

Morehead was named dean of the NMSU College of Education in 2010 and also had been serving as the interim dean since 2008. Morehead has a bachelor's in education, a master's in educational administration and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. Prior to joining the NMSU College of Education in 1992, he worked in administrative roles at Northern Arizona University and Emporia State University. He has been an educator since 1971, including teaching at the middle- and high-school level and serving as an administrator in secondary schools in Missouri. His primary research involves teacher education, program quality, student internships and accreditation. Morehead also has been involved extensively with K-12 education throughout his career and has been instrumental in establishing linkages and outreach initiatives that foster collaboration between higher education and public schools.

Stan Rounds, Las Cruces

For nearly 20 years, Rounds served as a public school superintendent in Des Moines, Alamogordo and Hobbs. In 2005, he retired from Hobbs Public Schools after 10 years as that district's superintendent. He became superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools in February 2007. Rounds entered the teaching profession in 1973 as a high school mathematics teacher and coach in the Albuquerque Public Schools. Rounds also served as the associate superintendent of finance for the New Mexico Public Education Department and one year as the financial analyst for the New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee. Rounds has a bachelor's in education from the University of Albuquerque and a master's in educational administration from the University of New Mexico.

Scott Schafer, Carrizozo

Schafer is a fourth-generation rancher from Lincoln County. He has a bachelor's and master's from NMSU. After receiving his master's, he secured employment with Citizens State Bank (Wells Fargo) and worked 36 years in various management positions, retiring in January 2010. Since retirement, he serves on several boards and works the family ranch. He is the chair of the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center Board and the Lincoln County Fair Jr. Livestock Sale Committee. He serves on the boards of the Lincoln County Medical Center and the Community Foundation of Lincoln County.

Steven Stochaj, Las Cruces

Stochaj joined NMSU as a college assistant professor in 1990 and was appointed as professor in the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2005. In 2011, he was selected to receive the distinction of Distinguished Achievement Professor. Stochaj is the director of the R.L. Golden Particle Astrophysics Lab (PAL) and much of his research focuses on particle astrophysics. He is a recipient of the Donald C. Roush Teaching Award for Excellence. He has been an active member of the NMSU research community, having served as chair of the University Research Council and Chair of the Research and Economic Development committee. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland. Stochaj has been an active team member of the Mesilla Valley Search and Rescue, a non-profit volunteer organization that also certifies individuals to work with ATV and ground team search and rescue operations. He is the proud owner of Striking the "Wonder Dog," who retrieves the kicking tees from the football field after all Aggie kick offs during home football games.

Breeana Sylvas, Las Cruces

Sylvas is the president of the Associated Students of New Mexico State University. She has represented students in several capacities while at NMSU, including serving two terms as a student senator for the College of Business. Sylvas has been involved in several student organizations, including Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences. She also is involved with American Legion Auxiliary. She graduated in May 2012 with a bachelor's in finance. Currently, she is working on a master's in public administration. Sylvas is originally from San Diego, Calif.

Andrew Taylor, Las Cruces

Lt. Col. Taylor was selected by the Department of the Army to serve as a professor of Military Science and commander of the NMSU Army ROTC in 2009. He has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Northern Arizona University, a master's in civil engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and is a Professional Engineer (PE) registered in the state of Colorado. His military education includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms Service Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, Airborne, Air Assault, Jumpmaster, Pathfinder and Ranger. Taylor has earned many national and foreign medals, awards, badges and tabs to include the Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Joint Service and Iraq Campaign Medals. As a distinguished combat engineer, his assignments took him to Bosnia, Germany, Fort Bragg, Langley AFB, Fort Lewis, Iraq, and Korea.

Ex Officio Member:

Christopher Dulany, Las Cruces

Dulany has served as the student regent on the NMSU Board of Regents for the past two years. He just completed a master's degree in business with an emphasis in finance. After receiving his bachelor's in finance from NMSU in 2005, he began working as a financial adviser for Edward Jones. He is active in the Las Cruces Rotary Club and is a member of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce. As an undergraduate student at NMSU, he served as an Associated Students of NMSU senator for the College of Business. He is a native New Mexican from Los Alamos.