Marvin and Helen Rider

A new endowment at NMSU Grants honors emeritus faculty member Marvin Rider and his wife, Helen, and preserves Rider’s commitment to non-traditional students. Rider was such a student, entering college at age 36 to earn a degree in business education.

He taught high school business in Oklahoma and Kansas before moving to Grants in 1967. He began a 20-plus year teaching career in the Job Corps center, which evolved into NMSU Grants.

Marvin and Helen married immediately after World War II and raised four children. During the war, Helen worked as a “Rosie the Riveter” at a Kansas factory building fighter aircraft.

After the senior Riders passed away in 2008, the family and many friends from the Grants community joined forces to create the Marvin and Helen Rider endowed memorial scholarship at NMSU Grants. The first scholarship will be awarded for the 2009-2010 school year.