Judy Gray Johnson, left, and Bill Sheriff, right, were given honorary degrees by the NMSU Board of Regents during the spring 2012 commencement ceremony.

Darren Phillips

Judy Gray Johnson and Bill Sheriff received honorary Doctor of Letters degrees at New Mexico State University’s spring 2012 commencement ceremonies May 12.

Judy 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 also have contributed to the university’s Center for the Arts, currently under construction.

Sheriff ’65 has had an outstanding career in executive management spanning nearly five decades, most recently as CEO of Brookdale Senior Living, the nation’s largest senior living company. Sheriff’s management experience began in his family’s truck stop business, headquartered in Las Cruces, after he completed his B.S. in mathematics.