1950s

John (Jack) E. Hirten ’50 of San Francisco, Calif., received a national planning award, the “2005 APA Lifetime Achievement Award for Exceptional Service to APA and the Profession of Planning,” from the American Planning Association.

1970s

William Osborne ’70 of Makanda, Ill., has been named chairman of the board for Sigma Tel. Osborne has been director since 2001 and has held a variety of academic positions, such as dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas, Dallas, and dean of the College of Engineering of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Mary Hayes ’72 ’74 of Bloomfield, N.M., founding director of San Juan College East in Aztec, received the San Juan College Foundation’s 2007 Hall of Fame award on March 31, 2007. Hayes was instrumental in the relocation of the east campus from its original location in the old post office to its current location in the Aztec Family Center.

Tricia White ’72 of Santa Clara, Calif., has been appointed vice president of human resources for SVTC Technologies. White has held executive HR positions with companies such as Sierra Medical Center and Donnelly Optics.

Linda Jaramillo Hughes ’74 of Los Lunas, N.M., has written a book “Recetas y Recuerdos (Recipes & Recollections),” a cookbook and reference book for the traditional recipes of northern New Mexico. Hughes is a native of New Mexico, home economist and member of Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.

Sally Kosnick ’75 of Las Cruces has been named winner of the “New Mexico 2006 Graduation Reality and Dual-Role Skills Teacher Extraordinaire” award, making her the GRADS teacher of the year for New Mexico. Kosnick was named both the “New Mexico Family and Consumer Science Teacher of the Year” and the “New Mexico Vocational Educator of the Year.”

Sammy Chioda ’76 of Gallup, N.M., was inducted into the New Mexico Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame. Chioda also has been honored with the governor’s “Distinguished Public Service” award. He is president of Millennium Media Inc., which owns radio stations KKOR-FM, KXXI-FM and KYVA-FM.

Salomon E. Ramirez ’77 of Santa Fe is the new assistant director for Cooperative and International Forestry in the Regional Office. Ramirez began his career more than 31 years ago as a range conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service. He has worked for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and most recently was the assistant to the deputy administrator for farm programs for FSA’s Washington office.

Rose Kury ’78 of Lebanon, Pa., was named assistant principal for Lebanon Catholic Junior-Senior High School. Kury was the director of studies for the secondary program at the school.

Larry Morrell ’79 of Kirkland, Wash., was selected as an expert panelist at Semiconductor IP/System-on-Chip Conference held in Grenoble, France, in December 2006. Morrell works for Impinj and has more than 20 years of semiconductor industry experience.

1980s

Cindy Schultz Baker ’80 ’82 of Las Cruces was named president of the New Mexico Association of Elementary School Principals. Baker currently serves as principal of Clyde W. Tombaugh Elementary and is a board member of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators. Las Cruces was host to the Fall Conference of the NMAESP over which Baker presided. Baker has more than 25 years of experience in the field of education.

Gabe Candelaria ’80 of Grants, N.M., has been hired as Cibola County’s emergency management coordinator. Candelaria has worked in different capacities over the years, including taking care of his family’s ranch and farm, but he is better known in the county by his years of working with Cibola Counseling Service.

David D. Baltensperger ’81 of College Station, Texas, has been named department head for soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University. Baltensperger earned his doctorate in agronomy from NMSU, a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska and a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

John Wenzel ’82 of Las Cruces joined NMSU as the state’s first Extension veterinarian. Wenzel still operates the mixed animal veterinary practice in Silver City. He is a member of the New Mexico Veterinary Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Michael J. Burns ’83 of Los Alamos, N.M., was nominated by President Bush to be assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear and chemical and biological defense programs. Burns previously worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and left his job in the Weapons Physics Directorate to work for Fran Townsend on the Homeland Security Council Staff at the White House.

Robert Clay Doyle ’84 of Las Cruces has been selected to serve as vice president of New Mexico affairs for El Paso Electric. Doyle has been with the company since 1992 and has served as manager of the Corporate Projects Office, project manager of Corporate Transition to Competition, supervisor of Distribution Dispatch and distribution monitoring engineer. He has been a fundraising team leader for the local chapters of the American Heart Association, Junior Achievement and the Children’s Miracle Network.

Diana L. Roscoe ’85 of Magnolia, Del., has been named education associate, Mathematics Curriculum and Supervision for the Delaware Department of Education. Roscoe has more than 20 years’ classroom experience in secondary mathematics and science education.

Renee Bilbo Matthews ’86 of Burlington, Ky., received the status of Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). Matthews completed her master’s degree at Hampton University and a Dietetic Internship program with the Veterans Administration in Tampa, Fla. She has been a registered dietitian for more than 10 years and currently provides outpatient counseling for the Cincinnati Veterans Medical Center.

Michael Katko ’87 of Santa Fe received a first-place Readers’ Choice Award from the Los Alamos Monitor as “Best Principal 2006-2007.” He is the principal of Mountain Elementary School in Los Alamos, N.M.

Cristina Oakeley Allen ’88 of Nashville, Tenn., is the president and owner of Caliente Consulting, a company which specializes in Hispanic and Multicultural Marketing. Oakeley Allen is a specialist in multicultural marketing, entertainment marketing, event logistics, concert tours, corporate and private sporting/special events, and sales and retail promotions.

David R. Leffler ’88 of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., director of the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS), was interviewed on the Seattle radio program “Enlighten Your Life” on how Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) could be used to quickly end the war in Iraq. Leffler received his doctorate in consciousness-based military defense from the Union Institute & University.

Cathy Melcher ’88 of Ashburn, Va., has been named director of marketing communications and campaigns for the Civilian Agencies group at Northrop Grumman Information Technology. Melcher has 20 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the civilian, homeland security, defense, national security and international markets.

Rick Galligan ’89 of Santa Fe is now the general manager at Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort and Spa in Santa Fe. Galligan managed the Red Lion Hotel in Durango, Colo., worked at Angel Fire Resort, N.M., and also was employed by the Sheraton Tamarron Resort in Durango, Colo.

Tracy Embres Galligan ’89 of Santa Fe worked for 10 years with the Forest Service in Wenatchee, Wash. Galligan returned to school and became a high school teacher, teaching business and technology for more than seven years and now works for St. John’s College in Santa Fe.

Steve Wamel ’89 ’95 of Bloomfield, N.M., has started a seeding and tractor business called ST Seeding and Tractor. Wamel continues his full-time work with youth development activities at San Juan College and oversees the Technical Education Center, enjoys team roping, running his part-time DJ business, and volunteering for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

1990s

Salvatore Incanno ’90 of Dayton, Ohio, has been appointed as corporate treasurer in the corporate accounting and finance department of Myers Industries. Incanno previously held various analytical and financial management positions at Conoco Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp. and was corporate treasurer for the Reynolds and Reynolds Co. in Dayton, Ohio.

Fred G. Mobley ’87 ’91 of Mesilla Park, N.M., has been appointed to the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission. Mobley is an active participant on the Las Cruces Military Affairs Committee. He previously worked for International Multifoods Inc., Farm Credit Services of New Mexico, and currently serves as senior vice president of commercial lending at Bank of the Rio Grande in Las Cruces.

Steve Merrill ’92 of Cedar Park, Texas, has joined Alchemy Systems as vice president of sales in Austin. Alchemy Systems, a software company, focuses on developing and deploying solutions to improve group-based and electronic learning methods or training.

Saint Ademayoni Adeogba ’93 of Castaic, Calif., was named “Rookie of the Year ’05/’06” with Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.

Sunny Conley ’94 of Las Cruces has joined NMSU’s University Advancement as technical editor for Corporate and Foundation Relations. Conley continues to contribute her food columns to the Las Cruces Bulletin and to the regional dining guide, Sabrosa.

Amanda Gibson-Smith ’94 ’05 of Las Cruces has been appointed director of the Doña Ana County Head Start Program in the NMSU College of Education.

Martha Mauritson ’95 of Portales, N.M., has become managing editor at the Carlsbad Current-Argus. Mauritson was the police and courts reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News, eventually moving up to the city editor’s job and then to assistant managing editor.

Russell Naranjo ’95 of Espanola, N.M., was hired as deputy planning director for the city. He has worked as senior planner for Santa Fe since 2005. He also held planning jobs in Delta, Colo., and Sunland Park, N.M.

Richard Gatewood ’95 of Las Cruces served a tour in Iraq and now is working with the Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District.

Andrea Ortiz ’97 of Albuquerque was awarded a detective position with the Crimes Against Children Unit for the Albuquerque Police Department.

Barry D. Flack ’98 has moved to Aviano Air Base, Italy, where he is serving as director of operations for the 724th Air Mobility Squadron.

Brian Colon ’99 of Albuquerque was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. Colon is a lawyer in Albuquerque.

Joseph M. Herrera ’99 of Gilbert, Ariz., is the director of engineering and operations for the state of Arizona, Electrical District 3, in Maricopa, Ariz.

2000s

William Kinman ’00 of Deming, N.M., completed a doctorate in geology from the University of Notre Dame. He works as a postdoctoral research associate in isotope geochemistry at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn.

Steven A. Rugala ’01 of Albuquerque has been selected as the director of the Counseling, Assistance and Referral Services (CARS), the employee assistance program for faculty and staff at the University of New Mexico. Rugala is a licensed psychologist in New Mexico. He earned a doctor of philosophy degree from the counseling psychology program at NMSU, completed a predoctoral internship at the Counseling and Psychological Services Center at Ball State University, received a master of education degree in counseling and development from George Mason University, and earned a bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University.

Andrea Jaramillo ’04 of Sunnyvale, Calif., joined Leo Graphic Design and Creative Services as a graphic designer in the summer of 2006.

Brenda Villalobos-Garcia ’04, a teacher at Berino Elementary School in the Gadsden Independent School District, was named the “2006 New Mexico Dual Language Spanish Teacher of the Year.” Garcia also received a scholarship that allowed her to travel to Spain to study that country’s culture for three weeks.

Dustin Cameron ’05 of Allen, Texas, has been picked up by the New York Mets organization. Cameron previously played for the El Paso Diablos. He appeared in 33 games for El Paso and was 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA, averaging close to one strikeout per inning pitched.

Jennifer Clingenpeel ’06 of Fort Collins, Colo., has joined the Highlands Photographic Guild and has relocated to the Hawley area. Her images capture the beauty in everyday objects and she often uses this backdrop in her photographs of women.

Natisha Hales ’06 of Las Cruces has been promoted to business editor for the Las Cruces Bulletin. Hales also serves as editor for The Bottom Line, the official monthly magazine of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, which is produced and distributed by the Bulletin.

Edward Stahl ’06 of Las Cruces deployed to Iraq in May 2007. Stahl recently married Amanda Oilfield ’01, who used to work for the NMSU Alumni Association.