Births

James Benzie V, '86, and Chris Benzie, son, Brett Raines, June 23, 1999
Melissa A. Coughlin, '86, '88, and Keith J. Coughlin, son, Nicolas Keith, Oct. 13, 1999
Steve Corgan, '88, and Francine (Gottlieb) Corgan,> '90, twins, Kimberly Ann and Jennifer Lee, July 7, 1999
Sandra (Schlueter) Lanier, '90, and Steve Lanier, son, Skylar Steven, May 26, 1999
Stephen Robertson, '90, and Lori (Laitinen) Robertson, '95, son, Stephen Allen, July 14, 1999
Andrea (Hawkins) Schoellkopf, '90, and Jake Schoellkopf, son, Daniel Jacob, March 4, 1999
Kirsten (Doutt) Kunzler, '91, and Kurt W. Kunzler, '91, son, Kyler Bryce, Jan. 17, 1999
David Dominguez, '93, and Michelle Jones-Dominguez, '94, daughter, Kayla Amber, June 9, 1999
Heather (Baldock) Jones, '94, and James M. Jones, '91, daughter, Tristin Mackenzie

In Memory

Josephine Howell, '41, of Las Cruces, July 4, 1999
Charles R. Sparks, '50, of Hobbs, N.M., Sept. 23, 1999
John C. Pair, '59, of Derby, Kan., Jan. 24, 1998
Gerald E. Poling, '59, of Houston, Texas, Sept. 10, 1999
John H. Young, '59, of Las Cruces, Aug. 15, 1999
Joyce M. Treat, '60, of Roswell, N.M., Oct. 1999
Roman (Ray) Pacheco, '65, of Las Cruces, April 5, 1999
Myra S. L. Andrews, '67, of Las Vegas, Nev., May 16, 1999
Donald Cass, '67, of Farmington, N.M., June 30, 1999
Patricia Arter, '75, of Loveland, Colo., Sept. 22, 1999
Joe B. Chacon, '76, of Albuquerque, 1999
Gregory V. Kovacich, '82, '84, of Waldwick, N.J., July 17, 1999
Jim Alexander, '89, of Carlsbad, N.M., July 18, 1999
Maria Teresa Casarez, '91, of Roswell, N.M., July 10, 1999
Thomas W. Hunter, '91, of Alamogordo, N.M., Aug. 19, 1999
Louisa Lujan-Pacheco, '91, of Santa Fe, July 25, 1999

Thomas McDonald 1964-1999

NMSU's first-ever student regent, Thomas McDonald, '97, died in an automobile accident Oct. 9 in Albuquerque at the age of 35.

McDonald

McDonald was appointed to a two-year regent term in 1995 following approval of a constitutional amendment calling for student regents on the boards of several state universities. Born Aug. 26, 1964, he received a bachelor's degree from Western New Mexico University and a master's degree in criminal justice from NMSU in 1997.

McDonald served as the Board of Regents' representative on the New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation and as president of the NMSU Research Park Corporation.

McDonald worked as a private investigator and served on the state Commission on Higher Education.

Beverly Dodson Bassford

One of the first NMSU students to help paint the "A" on Aggie Mountain, Beverly Dodson Bassford, 'ex-'41, of Ocean City, Md., died April 16, 1999. She was 76.

While still in college, Bassford was recruited by the War Production Board to work in Washington, D.C. After the war, she worked for the National Production Authority and the Department of the Interior. During the early '60s Bassford helped with much of the administrative work to help found the Peace Corps. She also worked for the Federal Energy Commission, the Agency for International Development and the Naval Research Laboratory with the Department of Navy before retiring in 1981.

Marriages

Mary Barclay, '79, and David Meeh
Dana L. Mulcahy, '88, and Lyn M. Zarcone
Joel H. Marr, '90, and Teresa Kaye Briggs
Nicholas E. Chavez, '91, and Rox Anne Telles
Frank McDonald, '93, and Bobbi R. Steadman
Alfredo Jon Ortiz, '93, and Libni Jassai Valles
Richard J. Landfair, '94 and Lori Brooke Kiker
Clarissa Gonzalez, '95, and Ronald Vaughn Jr
Amy J. Robinson, '95, and Dan V. Pell
Marisa Lizbeth Wolf, '95, and Carsten Gunner Lorange
Julie Renfrow, '97, and Kelsey Wolfe
Julie Wethington, '98, and Michael Medina, '98
Audrey Gallegos, '99, and Scott Henderso
Carol Ann Ladner, '99, and Joseph N. Roth Jr

60s

Jim Fowler, '65, of Annapolis, Md., is a scientist and worked the last 13 years in the Washington, D.C., area for the Incorporated Research Institution for Seismology (IRIS). He recently relocated to Socorro, N.M., and is the program manager for Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere (Passcal) at the IRIS/Passcal Instrument Center.
Bob Coppedge, '65, '67, of Mesilla Park, N.M., an economist with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service, is the new president of the New Mexico Rural Development Response Council.
Jennifer Morrow, '66, of Las Cruces, a design engineer at Engineers Inc., recently passed the State of New Mexico Professional Engineer's exam.
Clinton Balok, '69, of Gallup, N.M., is a veterinarian and involved in alternative agriculture research in conjunction with the Crownpoint Institute of Technology.

70s

Joe Bullock, '71, of Las Cruces, was selected as senior vice president of commercial lending at 1st National Bank's Las Cruces branch.
Victoria Quintela, '71, of Carlsbad, N.M., director of enrollment management at Clovis Community College, is set to retire after 27 years of service.
Dave Rocks, '73, of Las Cruces, is the new director of NMSU's Computing and Networking department.
John M. White, '73, of Las Cruces, has accepted a new position with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service in Dona Ana County.
Pat Bellestri, '75, of Las Cruces, is a designer and co-owner of Soledad Canyon Earth Builders.
Sandra M. Little, '75, of Albuquerque, is an attorney and has been selected to head the 10,000-member American Bar Association Family Law Section. Little is the first New Mexico attorney to hold this position.
Aileen Schumacher-Blum, '75, of Gainsville, Fla., is an engineer and co-owner of Blum, Schumacher and Associates Inc. She also has been nominated for a "Best Novel" Anthony Award for her mystery, Framework for Death.
Robert E. Castillo, '76, of Santa Fe, was promoted to vice president and regional customer officer of Texas-New Mexico Power Co., which includes all of the TNMP's service area in New Mexico and West Texas.
Mark Radosevich, '76, of Raton, N.M., a retired state police captain, has been appointed the new director of the State Probation and Parole Division.
Laura Hosford, '77, of Las Cruces, was hired as a college instructor at the Manufacturing Technology department at NMSUÕs Dona Ana Branch Community College.
Kevin P. Kenny, '77, of Howell, N.J., is vice president of Technical Coatings Laboratory in Avon, Conn.
Rhonda S. Landers, '77, of Little Rock, Ark., a captain in the Navy, recently reported for duty at Naval Reserve Readiness Command, Region Eight, Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bill C. Kinney, '78, of Puerto Rico, is a Naval commander and recently reported for duty at Naval Hospital, Jacksonville, Fla.

80s

Karen Couch, '80, of Alamogordo, N.M., is associate superintendent for Human Resources with the Alamogordo Public Schools. Couch was named the 1999 New Mexico School Personnel Administrator of the Year by the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators.
Janel Ryan, '80, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., was superintendent of schools in Truth or Consequences and now is the new personnel director for the Farmington school district.
Erik L. Ness, '80, and Tammy P. Johnson, '98, both of Las Cruces, placed first for "The Year's Best News Story" from the Department of Communications and Media Relations of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau for an investigative article about the U.S. government's Mexican wolf release program.
Danny J. Bryant, '81, of Aragon, N.M., is the new principal at Animas Middle School.
James M. Chavez, '81, of Albuquerque, is the new deputy director of the State of New Mexico Transportation Services Division. The division is part of the General Services Department.
Lura Hess Klose, '81, of Park Ridge, Ill, has received her master of arts degree in elementary education from National Louis University. Klose completed the graduate cousework for Illinois bilingual and English as a second language endorsements.
Carl Baca, '82, '93, of Las Cruces, is financial systems administrator in the Office of Business and Finance at NMSU.
Steven P. Castillo, '82, of Las Cruces, is the new department head of NMSU's Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Noel Clark, '84, of Hobbs, N.M., is the new chief executive officer of the Carlsbad Mental Health Association.
Sharon Walton, '84, of Albuquerque, an attorney, was appointed Metropolitan Court judge in Bernalillo County by New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.
Susan McEachern, '85, of Longmont, Colo., won the 1999 Outstanding Service Award from PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome Association (PCOSA). PCOSA is an international organization dedicated to improving the lives of women with PCOS. Susan is editor in chief of the online newsletter and is president of the Colorado chapter of PCOSA.
Karen Edwards, '85, of Los Alamos, N.M., was appointed to a six-year term to the New Mexico Commission for the Blind. Edwards has worked for the past 10 years in human resources at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dirk Reader, '86, of Flower Mound, Texas, is the national distribution sales manager for Robertson Worldwide.
Charles "Chuck" W. Bose III, '87, of Las Cruces, was appointed assistant vice president and assistant relationship manager for First Security Bank of Southern New Mexico.
Frank E. Hodnett, '87, '88, of Las Cruces, has been the 4-H agent at the Dona Ana County Extension office since 1988. Hodnett will be attending NMSU to work on his doctorate in curriculum and instruction.
Samantha Dunn, '88, of Malibu, Calif., is the author of Failing Paris, a new novel available exclusively on the Internet at www.tobypress.com or by calling (800) 810-7191. Dunn, a journalism graduate, writes for InStyle and other magazines, and has published short fiction in many literary magazines.
Kim Hopwood, '88, of Silver City, N.M., is an instructor and acting director of Western New Mexico University's Adult Educational Services department.
Cylde E. Moon, '88, '89, of McAlister, N.M., along with his father, is farming and ranching on their 5,000 acre family farm. The Moons raise wheat, corn and milo and run a cow-calf operation.
Arthur A. Johnson, '89, of Albuquerque, accepted the position of vice president for national account sales with United Signature Foods. Johnson was previously national chain sales manager with Chef America Inc.
William "Bill" Woodward, '89, of Tyrone, N.M., is the new agriculture instructor at Western New Mexico University. Woodward also is president of Grant County Soil and Water Conservation.

90s

Greg R. Fant, '90, of Las Cruces, NMSU's associate band director for the past nine years, is now head of NMSUÕs Department of Music.
Robert Garza, '90, of Las Cruces, was elected to the board of directors of the New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers.
Darryl Seibel, '90, of Aztec, N.M., was named associate director of media and public affairs for the United States Olympic Committee.
Michael Davis, '91, of Albuquerque, was appointed as one of the new senior software developers at Tekworks Inc.
Alonso G. Gomez, '91, of Carlsbad, N.M., was named Hispanic Heritage honoree during the Lea County Fair and Rodeo Mexican Heritage Celebration.

McClean

Roy E. McClean, '92, of Annapolis, Md., arrived at the Naval Academy in 1993 after two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory. McClean is involved in designing the new chemistry labs that are part of the upcoming Academic Facilities Master Plan. He also serves as the faculty representative to the Varsity Sprint football team. Kenneth E. Rabon, '92, of Fort Stockton, Texas, retired after five years with the Missouri Department of Corrections. Previously, Rabin was an institutional psychologist at the Farmington Correctional Center and chief psychologist at the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center.

Sharon Rabon, '92, of Fort Stockton, Texas, was accepted into a Ph.D. program at the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Stacey E. Smith Watson, '92, of Kalamazoo, Mich., completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan, Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies. Watson is in private practice in internal medicine.
Rachel M. Garcia, '93, of Alexandria, Va., completed her doctorate in medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Garcia began her surgical residency at The University of Colorado Health Sciences center in Denver, Colo., and is pursuing a career in general surgery.
Dale Kiehl, '93, of Las Cruces, was nominated for the Western Association of Graduate Schools/University Microfilms International Distinguished Master's Thesis award. Dale is a darkroom specialist in the NMSU Library's archives department.

Lightfoot

Bonnie J. Lightfoot, '93, of Tijeras, N.M., was recognized as the state's "Outstanding Young Agriculture Teacher" by the New Mexico Department of Agricultural Education. Shawn Meeks, '93, of Alamogordo, N.M., is the new chief financial officer at the Sierra Vista Hospital. Sandra Scruggs, '93, of Santa Fe, was named the Rookie of the Year by New Mexico Emergency Medical Services. Kelly Lynn Brooks, '94, of Chaparral, N.M., is business manager at Dona Ana Branch Community College.

Carlos Carter, '94, of Warner Robins, Ga., has attained the rank of captain with the United States Air Force.
Linda C. Pino-MacEachen, '94, of Albuquerque, was awarded the 1998 Salesperson of the Year award for her work at the Albuquerque Publishing Company.
Paula McCarty Glover, '95, of Rio Rancho, N.M., was hired as loan review officer at Los Alamos National Bank.
Catherine Lazorko, '95, of Las Cruces, is information officer with the City of Las Cruces and recently won six awards from the Southern New Mexico Press Club. She won merit awards for Best One- to Three-Color Brochure and Best News Release.
Conrad Perea, '95, of Las Cruces, was appointed Dona Ana County Div. IV magistrate judge by New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Perea was a lieutenant with the Las Cruces Police Department.
Amy J. Robinson Pull, '95, of Santa Fe, is a new tax and reporting analyst at Technology Funding Capital, a venture capital company.
Cory G. Simmons, '95, of Deming, N.M., was promoted to the rank of captain in the United States Marines. Simmons reported for duty with Marine Attack Training Squadron 203, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in Cherry Point, N.C.
Antonya Jandacek, '97, of Los Alamos, N.M., is serving in the Peace Corps on the island of Nonouti in the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific.

Pontelli

Monte Koch, '97, of Napa, Calif., is the new head golf professional at Napa, Calif. Enrico Pontelli, '97, of Las Cruces, an assistant professor of computer science at NMSU, has received a National Science Foundation Career Award. The prestigious $200,000 grant will fund his research and curriculum development in the field of parallel computing. Amy Rector, '97, of Portales, N.M., is a new secondary science teacher in the Fort Sumner schools.

Philipp A. Djang, '98, of Las Cruces, an operations research analyst at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Analysis Center at White Sands, was awarded the 1999 Bernard Koopman Prize. The Koopman Prize is given by the Military Applications Society of the Institute of Operations Research and Management Science.
Bary D. Flack, '98, of San Antonio, Texas, is a lieutenant stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as a transportation officer. He is the flight commander for the Vehicle Maintenance Flight of the 37th Transportation Squadron.
Willie Lucero, '98, of Socorro, N.M., is the new land use specialist for the Socorro district of the New Mexico Land Office. Lucero will manage more than 1 million acres of state trust land located in Catron, Sierra and Socorro counties.
Michael Medina, '98, of El Paso, Texas, was promoted to rooms care manager for a new Courtyard by Marriott in Dallas.
Julie M. Wethington, '98, of El Paso, Texas, works in Agency Relations at the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas. Wethington coordinated Kids Cafe, the food bank's nutrition program targeting low-income children.
Marla J. Winfrey, '98, of Alamogordo, N.M., passed her NCLEX RN exam to be a registered nurse.
Brian S. Colon, '99, of Albuquerque, was elected president of the University of New Mexico Graduate and Professional Student Association.

Gregory

Gwen Gregory, '99, of Las Cruces, was appointed to interim associate dean of NMSU's New Library. Kelly Knight, '99, of Albuquerque, is the new 4-H home economist with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service in Bernalillo County. Justice Waatsa, '99, of Las Cruces, received the Returning Homemaker Scholarship from the Dona Ana County Extension Clubs Council.

Aggies have key roles in 'Lobo to Lassie'

Giant fire hydrants and doghouses fill the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History. These comical props are part of a two-year effort of NMSU alumni, employees, students and others from the community to bring Las Cruces the exhibit, "Lobo to Lassie: The Natural History of the Dog."

Inspired by museum members' love of their pets, "Lobo to Lassie" explores the evolutionary path from wolf to domestic dog. The exhibit also is intended to teach visitors about pet owner responsibility and dog behavior, said Cristina Trowbridge, '90, project manager.

Visitors can examine differences in wolf and dog skulls, use a computer to match the best dog for them, and listen to vocalizations of dogs.

"It's a very interactive, tactile exhibit," Trowbridge said. "We hope "Lobo to Lassie" gives visitors a better understanding of their own dog."

The exhibit will run through Jan. 15, 2000. The museum is located at the Mesilla Valley Mall.

The "Lobo to Lassie" exhibit team includes from left, NMSU student Deborah Gonzales, student Pamela Angell, Emilia Casillas, ex-'94, NMSU biology department head Laura Foster Huenneke, NMSU University Communications graphic designer Ronnie Garver, '97, and graduate student Cristina Trowbridge, '90.

The exhibit team includes NMSU University Communications graphic designer Ronnie Garver, '97, exhibit graphic designer; NMSU's American Southwest Theatre Company's set designer Jim Billings, exhibit set designer; NMSU student Pamela Angell, exhibit pet responsibility researcher and writer; post-doctoral biology student Vicki Medland, exhibit science researcher and writer; Emilia Casillas, ex-'94, exhibit artist; and students Deborah Gonzales and John Marquez, exhibit assistants. Ann Palormo, NMSU director of annual giving, and Geri Tillett, '71, Dona Ana County Humane Society president, served on the Dog Committee. NMSU biology department head Laura Foster Huenneke served as a consultant.

The Dona Ana County Humane Society was a partner in the project.

Joy Victory