Albert Gonzales ’35 of Santa Fe, N.M., was honored as a Santa Fe “Living Treasure” for his participation in the life, heart and spirit of the community.

1940s

Mary Elizabeth (Rutledge) Sullinger ’45 of Clovis, N.M., was recently honored on her 80th birthday. Sullinger was a teacher in Clovis and Roswell, N.M., retiring after 28 years. Sullinger and her husband, Richard ’57 are the parents of Rebecca (Sullinger) Dougherty ’81, Karen (Sullinger) Rebol ’79 and D’Lane (Sullinger) Joens ’86 ’87. All three daughters live and teach in Colorado.

1950s

Robert S. Culpepper ’51 of Farmington, N.M., was honored by the San Juan College Foundation for contributing to the growth and excellence of the college. Culpepper served on the Farmington City Council for eight years and was mayor from 1978 to 1982.

1960s

Elton Richardson ’63 ’72 of New York City was inducted into the 2003 Class of the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame. Richardson set four world records and 28 American records in the Olympic sport of racewalking and was the first American female to be selected overall Racewalker of the Year three times. She has won more than 160 gold medals in 16 years.

Sandi Wright ’66 of Santa Fe, N.M., owner of Art Academy de Los Ninos and a private practice art therapist, was named art department chair at Santa Fe High School where she has worked for the past six years.

Neil Hart ’69 of Arenzville, Ill., was elected to serve a five-year term on the IC Alumni Association Board of Directors for Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill. Hart is a professor of mathematics at MacMurray College in Jacksonville. His career in education includes an appointment as tenured professor of mathematics at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

1970s

Lester Lyles ’70 of Dayton, Ohio, retired U.S. Air Force general, was appointed senior adviser to the firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP. Prior to joining Deloitte, Lyles was commander of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Charlie Sanchez ’70 of Tome, N.M., joined the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. Sanchez has a long history of conservation activity.

Ron Seidel ’70 of Dallas, Texas, was hired as senior vice president for energy supply for CPS, a city-owned utility in San Antonio, Texas. Seidel was the senior vice president for TXU Energy in Dallas.

Denise Chavez ’71 ’80 of Las Cruces received an honorary doctor of letters degree from the University of New Mexico in May. Chavez also delivered the commencement address.

Craig Cosner ’71 of Tucumcari, N.M., was named the new Wells Fargo community bank president, serving Roswell, N.M., Artesia, N.M., and Dexter, N.M. Cosner was president and board member of First National Bank in Tucumcari since 1997.

Thomas A. Garcia ’71 of Albuquerque is the executive vice president of Youth Development Inc. His past experience includes working as New Mexico vice president and CEO of US West Communications Inc., and deputy lab director at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Greg Graves ’71 of Las Cruces was named interim president and CEO of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce. Graves is a partner with the marketing firm Swickard Graves. He served as a recruiter for the chamber in late 2003.

Duke Sundt ’71 of Sapello, N.M., a renowned sculptor of cowboy and western art, has his art on display at Tito’s Gallery on Bridge Street in Las Vegas, N.M, at the New Mexico Military Institute and at NMSU.

William C.Wygant ’71 of Albuquerque retired from Public Service Company of New Mexico in 1988 where he was an electrical engineer. Since retirement he and his wife Nancy have enjoyed traveling and buying and selling houses.

David J. Post ’74 of Sandia Park, N.M., was promoted to vice president and director of operations for the New Mexico offices of the architecture, engineering, and construction service firm DMJMH+N, which serves Los Alamos National Laboratory and other U.S. Department of Energy sites.

Charles Foertmeyer ’75 of Forest Park, Ohio, is an award-winning author who has published eight fiction novels in the past two years including “High Mountain Tragedy,” “The Cats’ Lair,” “Sonoma Quadrant” and “Moon Cave.” Information about Foertmeyer’s books can be found at www.foertmeyer.com.

Britt T. McKinney ’75 of Burlington, Kan., was named vice president of nuclear site operations for PPL Corporation’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. He previously served as the vice president at Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Burlington.

Robert Saavedra ’75 of Santa Teresa, N.M., was named El Paso Times Teacher of the Day in January 2004. Saavedra taught special education for 26½ years at Santa Teresa High School, but after retiring he returned and is now once again teaching special education.

Arthur A. Garcia ’76 of Albuquerque was appointed director of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Garcia will oversee the expansion of access to capital and financial services in critically underserved urban, rural and Native American communities. He has been administrator for the Rural Housing Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture since April 2002.

Larry Bell ’78 of Santa Fe, N.M., was named assistant regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Region, which encompasses New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma. Bell will handle public affairs and congressional state government and tribal relations for the agency. In the past 25 years he has also worked as a fish culturist, legislative liaison and law enforcement agent.

David L. Conway ’79 of The Woodlands, Texas, moved to Singapore with his family. Conway is employed by Chevron Philips Chemical Company LP in Singapore.

Diana Quintana ’79 ’03 of Las Cruces was named director of personnel at NMSU. Quintana was interim director and has more than 20 years experience in higher education human resource administration.

Harry Romero ’79 of Las Cruces was appointed the new chief of police for the Las Cruces Police Department. He had been the acting chief since January.

1980s

Linda Harris ’80 of Las Cruces recently published her book “Ghost Towns Alive: Trips to New Mexico’s Past.” She also is the author of “Houses in Time: A Tour Through New Mexico History” and “Las Cruces: An Illustrated History.”

Chris Larsen ’80 of El Paso, Texas, is the new district wildlife officer in Artesia, N.M. Larsen has worked for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for two years. Previously he worked in soil and erosion control research at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Hugh Ley ’80 of Tererro, N.M., is finishing his first four-year term as a San Miguel County commissioner. He served on the county planning and zoning commission for 10 years and was a member of the Sikes Act Wildlife Habitat Improvement Commission for six years.

Trent Stradley ’80 of Hobbs, N.M., is serving on the board of directors for Lea County State Bank. Since 1988 he has been vice president of S&W Cattle Co., a cow and farming business. He has served on the board of Opportunity House in Hobbs, a transitional program that helps men with substance abuse problems re-enter the community after incarceration.

Roger Cardenas ’81 of Las Cruces is now headed for Sakhalin Island in the Republic of Russia. Since his graduation from NMSU he has traveled the world with Chicago Bridge and Iron Company as a welding and quality assurance manager. He has worked in Houston, Texas; Chicago and Naperville, Ill.; Saudi Arabia; Spain; United Arab Emirates; Oman; Pakistan; Egypt; Kuwait; Dominican Republic; Nigeria; and Venezuela.

Lizbeth Ellis ’81 of Las Cruces was named department head for finance and business law in the College of Business Administration and Economics at NMSU.

Dave Wilson ’81 of Las Cruces, managing partner of Wilson Binkley Advertising and Marketing of Las Cruces, received the Silver Medal Award for 2004 from the Advertising Federation of Las Cruces.

John Abeyta ’82 of Chacon, N.M., won election to the supervisory board for the Western Mora Soil and Water Conservation District in Mora, N.M. Abeyta has been involved with the conservation district for 16 years and was a recipient of the state regional “Farmer of the Year” award in 1995. He runs a farm and ranch business in Chacon, N.M.

Jim Hakeem ’82 of Albuquerque joined Maestas & Ward Commercial Real Estate as an associate broker specializing in multi-family and land projects in Albuquerque.

Stephen ’82 and Theresa ’82 Yarbro of Los Alamos, N.M., are both employees of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Stephen is a division leader for Nuclear Materials Technology and Theresa is an engineer.

Tony J. Burger ’83 of Buck Hill Falls, Pa., returned to New Mexico as head of Optimization Strategies Group in Edgewood, N.M. Burger, a member of the Estancia Valley Economic Development Association in Moriarty, N.M., is developing a new facility to bring jobs to Mountainair, N.M.

Susan Kinkade ’83 of Corona, Ariz., was named one of Tucson’s Fabulous Fifty Nurses. She received the award for her contributions to child safety in Pima County. Kinkade is a certified emergency nurse and has been a nurse in the emergency department at University Medical Center for 11 years. She is a member of the Emergency Nurse’s Association, Tucson Safe Kids, and the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force.

Alan Yeager ’83 of Santa Fe, N.M., works for Los Alamos National Laboratory as a tech design drafter and is assigned to the Design Engineering and Construction Services engineering team. Two years ago, Yeager received an award in design excellence from his group for his work quality.

Richard H. Dourte ’84 of Albuquerque was promoted to city engineer for the City of Albuquerque. Dourte was the city hydrologist and, previously, a transportation and traffic engineer.

Andres Rodriguez ’84 of Central, N.M., was named the Bilingual Professor of the Year for 2004 by the New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education at a February awards reception in Albuquerque. Rodriguez teaches at Western New Mexico University School of Education in Silver City, N.M.

Gwendolyn Mintz ’85 of Las Cruces was named in the May 2004 Who’s Who of American Women for creative works. Mintz writes short stories and poems for adults and children and has been published in various online and print journals.

Patrick Morrow ’86 of La Luz, N.M., a wildlife biologist with White Sands Missile Range for 15 years, was presented with the Professional Award by the New Mexico Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Morrow was cited for his work to fund and initiate the largest Chronic Wasting Disease study in New Mexico when the first incidence of CWD appeared at White Sands in March 2002.

Rick Romero ’86 of Lordsburg, N.M., was appointed superintendent for the Lordsburg school district. He was principal of Hatch Valley High School for four years and director of Federal Programs for the Hatch Valley School District for two years. Romero also was the director of the Bilingual/Multicultural Program at Hatch and has held positions in Albuquerque, Moriarty, N.M., and Santa Fe, N.M.

Paul Winn ’86 of Albuquerque is owner of Ace Builders and Ace Metals. Ace Builders is a construction and demolition company and Ace Metals is a scrap-metal recycling company.

Jeffrey T. Young ’86 of Sandia Park, N.M., is procurement card administrator at Sandia National Laboratories.

Col. Edward Rougemont ’87 of Santa Fe, N.M., assumed command of 1,302 soldiers serving in the 93rd Troop Command of the New Mexico National Guard in May 2004.

Neil Sanchez ’87 of El Paso, Texas, was appointed baseball coach at Del Valle High School. Sanchez had served as assistant baseball and football coach at Hanks and Coronado high schools in El Paso.

Edward Hyne ’89 of Irving, Texas, was promoted to assistant vice president in the Legal Department at First Horizon Loans in Irving. Hyne has worked for First Horizon since 1998, managing litigation. He also is the corporate representative appearing as a witness at trials, mediations and depositions.

Roberta Scott ’89 of Los Lunas, N.M., director of the Small Business Development Center at the UNM-Valencia campus in Los Lunas, received the 2004 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year award from the New Mexico Small Business Association.

David Weaver ’89 of Las Cruces became a police officer for Angel Fire, N.M. Weaver previously worked for the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, which he joined in 1990.

Stephanie Yost ’89 of Albuquerque and her husband, George James, own and operate Creative Enterprises, a business specializing in business signs and graphics.

1990s

Margie Huerta ’90 of Las Cruces was selected as the campus executive officer of Doña Ana Branch Community College. She has served as the chief academic officer of the NMSU branch campus for the past four years.

Matt Connell ’91 of Brighton, Colo., joined Summit Electric Supply in Albuquerque as controller. Connell has more than 13 years of accounting experience. He was controller of Cummins Rocky Mountain in Denver, Colo.

Paul Mondragon ’92 of Dallas, Texas, was promoted to relationship manager by Wells Fargo. He will be responsible for financial services for New Mexico businesses with annual sales greater that $15 million. Mondragon also is a member of Wells Fargo’s U.S. corporate banking group.

Capt. Jerome C. Garcia ’93 of Las Cruces was recalled to active duty and deployed overseas to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Capt. Garcia is a company commander with 16 years of military service.

Tom Griego ’93 of La Madera, N.M., is a project manager for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. He oversees the day-to-day logistical operations for the U.S. 84/285 construction between Santa Fe, N.M., and Pojoaque, N.M. In his spare time, Griego works on his family’s ranch in La Madera.

Deanna Evans ’94 of Eldorado, N.M., changed her career path from a chemical engineer to a massage therapist. She has been practicing massage in New Mexico for the past seven years and teaches Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga in Eldorado.

Brian Holton ’94 of Albuquerque is writing and producing a comic book series set in the Southwest, Mojo Pop Comics, to be distributed throughout New Mexico. The series features stories in English and Spanish. Holton hopes Mojo Pop will provide the youth of New Mexico with positive information and the tools to help them succeed. Visit his website at www.mojopopcomics.com.

Melissa McCormick ’94 of Moriarty, N.M., is working in Afghanistan to help improve the health of women and children. McCormick works with the not-for-profit international public health organization JHPIEGO, which is affiliated with John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

Garilee Ogden ’94 ’97 of Deming, N.M., was named principal at Chaparral Elementary in Deming. Ogden was principal at Bell Elementary School in Deming for two and a half years and then moved to Hofacket Mid High School in Deming where she was assistant principal. She has also worked as a teacher in the Deming schools.

Peter A. Pacheco ’94 of Santa Fe, N.M., was promoted to vice president, commercial lender, at First State Bank in Santa Fe. Pacheco joined the bank in 2002 as an assistant vice president, commercial lender.

Walter F. Ray ’95 of El Paso, Texas, was named El Paso Times Teacher of the Day in April of 2004. He teaches at Montwood Middle School and has been teaching for six years. Ray has also been involved with the Boy Scouts for more than 35 years and volunteers with the Candlelighters of El Paso. He coaches football, track and soccer for Montwood Middle School.

Craig Stockton ’95 of Deming, N.M., was named superintendent of the San Jon School District near Tucumcari, N.M. Most recently, he was the principal of Deming High School.

Mike Clawson ’96 of Farmington, N.M., was promoted to sergeant with the Farmington Police Department. Clawson will be assigned to the patrol division where he will supervise the field operations and delivery of patrol services to local citizens.

Andy Hernandez ’96 of Deming, N.M., presented a program “Indian Slave Trade in New Mexico” at the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. Hernandez is director of Western New Mexico University-Deming at the Mimbres Valley Learning Center, where he also teaches history classes.

Mary Ellen ’96 and Elfego ’96 Telles of Las Cruces both work at Alameda Elementary School in Las Cruces. Elfego is an educational assistant in the physically impaired class. Mary Ellen was recently awarded a grant for a home literacy reading program that will be used to help involve Spanish-speaking parents with family literacy.

Jennifer L. Wright ’96 of Los Alamos, N.M., is a structural engineer with KSL, a contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory.

John Young ’96 of Santa Fe, N.M., moved from Monmouth, Ill., shortly after graduating from college and has worked as a geologist with the New Mexico Environment Department for seven years. John was married in September 2002 to Donna Bevacqua.

Stephanie Walker ’97 of Las Cruces joined NMSU’s Extension Plant Sciences Department as a vegetable specialist. Previously Walker worked as a quality control manager at Mountain Pass Canning, directing a series of studies on chile varieties better suited to mechanical harvesting. She is a member of the American Society of Horticulture Sciences, New Mexico Crop Production Association, and the advisory board for the New Mexico Chile Pepper Task Force.

Marty Olivas ’98 of El Paso, Texas, was named one of El Paso’s 52 under 40 in arts and entertainment by the El Paso Times. He is the band director at Bel Air High School in El Paso, music director and conductor of the Eclectic Jazz Group, leader of his own group, Jazz Q, and plays with jazz producer and pianist Billy Townes with the band, Modern Sessions.

Bernadette Smyth ’98 ’02, former editor of Aggie Panorama and New Mexico State University instructor of women’s studies and English, was honored with the 2004 Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction in June. The $1,000 prize is awarded every year by the Bellingham Review to recognize outstanding poetry, stories and essays. Smyth’s poetic short story, “Kissing,” is about a young girl who learns about herself and her strength when confronted by obstacles in life. “Kissing” will appear in the Spring 2005 edition of the Bellingham Review. She also will have another piece, “Cider,” published in Crave magazine in spring 2005 and a book review coming out in Prairie Schooner this fall.

Sergio Soto-Navarro ’99 of Fargo, N.M., has joined NMSU’s Animal and Range Sciences Department as its new livestock nutritionist. Soto-Navarro will teach an undergraduate course on animal nutrition and graduate-level courses in livestock energy metabolism. Previously he served as a postdoctoral fellow at North Dakota State University and postdoctoral research associate at Langston University’s E. Kika de la Garza Institute for Goat Research.

2000s

Magdalena Aguilar ’00 of El Paso, Texas, principal of Vista del Sol Elementary School, was named to the El Paso Times list of 52 under 40 making a difference in education.

Robert Guevara ’00 of El Paso, Texas, a fifth grade teacher at Schuster Elementary in El Paso, was recognized as Teacher of the Day by the El Paso Times.

Courtney McNiel ’00 of Las Cruces recently previewed her own line of summer 2004 dresses inspired by fashions from the 1950s. McNiel and partner Lisa Cavallera own and operate “Calendar Girl Fashions.”

Chris Meenach ’01 of Mesilla Park, N.M., was recognized as the winner of the 2003 New Mexico Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet held in Albuquerque. Meenach is employed by Aldershot Nursery in Las Cruces and plans to plant his own blackberries in the Mesilla Valley.

Norman D. Wasson Jr. ’01 of Tijeras, N.M., was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala.

Shannon Buechler ’02 of Las Cruces was named “Teacher of the Month” in December 2003. Buechler teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Santa Teresa High School in Santa Teresa, N.M. and is pursuing a master’s degree at NMSU.