Foundation

Dukes said she is fortunate to be returning to a land-grant institution. “When I got to Utah State, I felt an immediate connection to the mission of land-grant institutions. This is the fabric of our country. I have always appreciated the heritage of the family farm. I trace that to the fun my sister and I had playing at our great-grandmother’s farm in northeast Ohio when we were children.”

Dukes’ development career evolved over the years, she said. “Back in the ’70s there was no academic field of study in this area. My bachelor’s degree was in speech and theatre arts with minors in French and ballet, and my first job was as an early childhood education specialist.”

A family move led to accepting a public relations position with the Easter Seals Society. That was followed by tenure as the executive director of the Akron/Canton Branch of the National Arthritis Foundation. At age 26 Dukes was the youngest person in the nation serving in that capacity. Her next move was into development work for hospitals in the Kansas City, Mo., area. These positions provided the opportunity to develop skills in planned giving, writing foundation proposals and soliciting major gifts.

In 1994 she decided to try her hand at higher education fund raising. Utah State was the first to respond with an offer. She sees many similarities between Utah State and New Mexico State. “I was so impressed with the people I met during my interview at New Mexico State. They have a great deal of pride in this institution and want to see where we can go. For me, the advancement field is a transformational business. You are transforming non-donors into donors and donors into volunteers who give their time as well as their money.

“I can’t think of a more rewarding profession,” Dukes said. “Donors inspire me. They make me wish I could win the lottery and establish my own foundation to benefit the causes that are important to me.” Her goals for the first six months at New Mexico State include putting in place the staff to begin a capital campaign, organizing a structure for soliciting major gifts and filling the staff vacancies in the development office.

Groves is graduate of the College of Engineering with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He was named distinguished alumnus of the college in 1992. In 2001 he and his wife Rebecca were recognized as members of the University Ambassadors for their ongoing financial support of the college.

ESI is an Albuquerque-based energy consulting and power development firm. The company is leading the development efforts for a new power generation plant to be located south of Las Cruces. The plant is being developed in cooperation with Public Service Co. of New Mexico and El Paso Natural Gas Co.

Ann Palormo

Montoyas assist tutoring program

Making sure students of all ages have the needed tools to succeed is the goal of a newly established endowment fund by Don C. and Della H. Montoya of Deming, N.M.

The Montoya Family Endowed Fund, established with a $10,000 gift, will support a tutoring program in the College of Education at New Mexico State.

This award will be used in combination with the America Reads/America Counts program that the col-lege has administered for the last three years, said Stan Lopez, college professor of curriculum and instruction. The federal work-study program matches university tutors with students in the public schools who need assistance with reading and math, Lopez said.

“We wanted to help young people with their stud-ies,” said Don Montoya. “We wanted to give back, to help fill the gap and also to make future students aware of the education available at New Mexico State.”

The Montoyas said growing up during the Depression helped them value the importance of saving a little money, and now that they’ve managed to get ahead, they wanted to help young people. The Montoyas were both born in New Mexico and raised two children. After obtaining a degree using the G.I. Bill, Don was a school administrator and then held several public service positions.

Julie M. Hughes, ’95

Librarian’s gift benefits young readers

Helen Barber retired from the University Library in July after 16 years as a reference librarian at New Mexico State University. A New York State native, Barber worked in libraries at Cornell University, the University of Southern California and the University of Nebraska until a bitter cold Nebraska winter inspired her and her tomcat Alpha Geoffrey Demetrius to seek warmer climes.

One of the tasks that has given Barber the greatest pleasure as a librarian, she said, is assisting young fathers to find books for their children. This inspired her to establish the Alpha Geoffrey Demetrius endowment for children’s literature at New Mexico State. Once the fund reaches $10,000, earnings will be used each year to purchase medal-winning books for children from preschool through high school. These books will circulate and supplement the English department’s children and young adult literature course.

Gifts can be made to the fund through the NMSU Foundation, P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces, N.M. 88003; Attn: Ann M. Palormo.

Members of the Zuhl Library reference department gather to
honor Helen Barber as she retires after 16 years of service to New
Mexico State. Front row, from left, are Susan Beck, department
head, and Helen Barber. Middle row, from left, are Irene Shown,
Jan Hylen, Molly Molloy and Nancy Turner. Back row, from left, are John Freyermuth, Kathy Sowa, Laura Thode and Kay Simpson.
Photo by Meghann Dallin