Honorary Alumnus

Maria Doubrava of Carlsbad and her children gather as she is honored with the 1999 Honorary Alumnus Award during NMSU's May Commencement. The award is given to special individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the improvement of higher education and the growth of NMSU. Doubrava, widowed in 1981, instilled in her children a dedication to higher education. Ten of her 14 children have graduated from NMSU, one is a student at NMSU-Carlsbad and others have

Photo by Michael Kiernan

pursued their educations elsewhere. Among the NMSU graduates are a nurse, two teachers, two CPAs, two engineers and three computer scientists. The Doubrava family includes, front row, from left, Dorothy D. Anderson, '90; Tom Doubrava; Maria Doubrava; Angela D. Thronberry, '88; Linda D. Volk, '84; Margaret Doubrava, '83; and Mary D. Hendren. Back row, from left, are Steve Doubrava, '96; Joe Doubrava, '89; Trish D. Mason; Julius Doubrava, NMSU-Carlsbad student; John Doubrava, '94; Leo Doubrava, '89; Michael Doubrava, '94; and Mark Doubrava, '97.

Archuleta leads board of regents

Adelmo "Del" Archuleta, '73, '75, has been elected president of the NMSU Board of Regents.

Archuleta is chief executive officer of Molzen-Corbin & Associates, with offices in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Los Alamos, N.M. He was appointed to a six-year term on NMSU's governing board by Gov. Gary Johnson in 1997 and served as its vice president for the past two years. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering at NMSU. Also at the board's March 26 meeting, Larry Sheffield, '81, was elected vice president and John Van Sweden, '69, was elected secretary-treasurer. Sheffield, president of Sheffield Development in Las Cruces, served as president of the board for the past two years. Van Sweden, of Raton, is president of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau.

Archuleta

Other members of the Board of Regents are John C. Manatt Jr., '71, chief executive officer of Providence Technologies Inc., a Roswell-based oil and gas exploration company, and student regent Avery L. Culbertson of Las Cruces, a junior majoring in agricultural and extension education.

Jordan appointed dean

Jay B. Jordan, '70, '79, '84, was appointed dean of NMSU's College of Engineering May 31.

Jordan

He had been interim dean of engineering since January and previously was head of the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a unit of the college. The selection was made following a national search. Jordan earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate in electrical engineering from NMSU and has served at the university in various capacities over the past three decades.

In addition to teaching electrical and computer engineering, he has been chief of the Space Payloads Section at NMSU's Physical Science Laboratory and a research engineer in the university's Electronic Vision Analysis Laboratory.

Faison picked for AD job

NMSU President William B. Conroy named Brian Faison as the university's new director of athletics in July. Faison, previously associate athletics director for development at NMSU, fills the vacancy created when Jim Paul resigned in June. Faison is a veteran college athletic administrator of more than 22 years, including seven years experience as a Division I director of athletics. He has been on the NMSU staff since March, and spent five months as associate athletics director involved in planning, coordinating and executing fund-raising programs for NMSU's 15-sport athletic program. He came to Las Cruces from St. Louis,

Faison

where he spent four years as director of development for the National Children's Cancer Society.

Beem shines as PGA rookie

Just when he was beginning to think that his one-year tour card was running out, Rich Beem's dream of earning a living on the PGA Tour came true.

The 28-year-old Beem, '94, notched his first PGA Tour victory May 30 in the Kemper Open, held in Potomac, Md.

Beem, the son of NMSU golf coach Larry Beem, '64, won the tournament by one stroke, took home a $450,000 paycheck and became the media darling of the nationally-televised Memorial Day weekend event.

Beem's spot on this year's PGA Tour almost never came. He quit golf in 1995 to sell car stereos and cellular phones. But professional golf lured him back to the links, and by 1998 he was playing Sun Country PGA Section tournaments in New Mexico and west Texas.

Beem's biggest paycheck, prior to the Kemper's, was the $25,000 he received for finishing ninth at PGA Qualifying School, which earned him a spot on this year's PGA Tour. He played in 11 PGA tournaments before the Kemper and missed the cut seven times, finishing no higher than 45th at the Buick Invitational and earning $24,590.

Athletics inducts three

The NMSU Department of Athletics inducted three new members into the Intercollegiate Hall of Fame in February.

James Tackett, '52, Clay Fiske, '63, and Paul Brilliant, '66, were officially named NMSU Hall of Famers at a halftime ceremony during the NMSU men's basketball game against the University of Nevada. Tackett played basketball for what was then known as New Mexico A&M and was a letter winner during the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons. He was selected to the All-Border Conference during both seasons and helped land the Aggies in the NCAA Tournament in 1952.

Accepting their plaques are, from left, James Tackett, Clay Fiske and Paul Brilliant.

Fiske played football, basketball and baseball during his years at NMSU. Known as a devoted supporter of NMSU athletics, he was the first recipient of the Fiske Award, named after him, which recognizes supporters of Aggie and Roadrunner athletics programs.

Brilliant, the first head women's golf coach in NMSU history, led the Roadrunner team to two NCAA tournament appearances. In 1990, Brilliant's team was ranked number one in the nation.

Armando Arrieta