Foundation/Development

University recognizes Kellogg Foundation support

Scott Rushforth, director of the Kellogg Native American Bridges Program at New Mexico State University, presented the Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Foundation Award to Valorie Johnson of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

New Mexico State University has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which has been instrumental in firmly establishing a place for American Indian education at the university. Scott Rushforth, director of the Kellogg Native American Bridges Program and professor of sociology and anthropology at New Mexico State, recently recognized the foundation’s support with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Foundation Award. Rushforth presented the honor to foundation member Valorie Johnson. In 1979, Kellogg provided a $125,000 grant to involve the College of Agriculture and Home Economics in a Navajo irrigation project. Since then, the Kellogg Foundation has funded several other large projects at New Mexico State: the Rural Agricultural Improvement and Public Affairs Project ($1.8 million), the Hispanic Border Leadership Institute ($2.9 million), and the Community Partnerships in Graduate Medical and Nursing Education ($1.8 million).

In 1998, the Kellogg Foundation awarded New Mexico State a generous grant to establish a Bridge Program, which connects the university with American Indian students and tribal college faculty members with interests in the social sciences and humanities. To facilitate this program, the university formed partnerships with four tribal colleges: Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Crownpoint Institute of Technology, the Institute of American Indian Arts and Dine College at Shiprock.

In 2001, New Mexico State was selected to receive one of the first of 18 grants awarded through the Kellogg Foundation’s new Engaging Latino Communities for Education (ENLACE) initiative, which seeks to create and strengthen partnerships among Hispanic-serving institutions, K-12 schools and community groups.

Parents inspire endowments

Above: Peggy and Rojo Pobar Below: George and Annabelle Petty

For alumni George and Catherine Petty, inspiration from their parents combined with an appreciation for their university education has resulted in two new scholarship endowments at New Mexico State University. Their gift will be matched, in part, by AT&T Corp. The Rojo and Peggy Pobar Endowment for the College of Education honors Catherine’s parents. The George and Annabelle Petty Endowment in the College of Engineering is a similar tribute to George’s parents. George and Annabelle Petty moved to Carlsbad, N.M., when George Jr. was 5 years old. The family lived in Carlsbad for the next 15 years while the senior Petty worked for then American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Long Lines. His wife split her time between homemaking and working for GTE Corp. (the “other” telephone company). Both parents strongly emphasized the importance of a college education to their sons, and George Jr. earned a BSEE in 1965. In appreciation of his youth in Carlsbad, Petty decided to direct his parents’ award to an entering freshman from Carlsbad majoring in engineering.

Rojo Pobar worked for many years in road construction in virtually all parts of New Mexico. The Pobars later settled in Organ, just up the hill from Las Cruces. They purchased the Sawahu Trading Post and adjacent service station. Catherine’s father managed the service station while her mother took charge of the trading post. Catherine earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics at New Mexico State in 1964. She taught for several years, raised two daughters, earned a master’s in marriage and family counseling and pursued a career in that field. She believes there is a critical need for educators specializing in the area of early childhood education and her parents’ endowment will support an entering New Mexico freshman woman studying in that area.

Pat Conn, the College of Education development officer, was excited to learn of this new award. It is only the second endowment that provides support for students in early childhood education.

The younger Pettys grew up in New Mexico but left the state following college graduation when George’s U. S. Air Force commission took him to Germany for three years. After his tour in the Air Force, he went to work for AT&T Corp. It was the beginning of a 25-year career that was peppered with 15 moves. In 1964, the Pettys moved to Canada, where George served as CEO of TELUS Corp., one of Canada’s largest telephone companies.

Upon retirement two years ago, the Pettys chose to live close to their daughters and settled in their current home in San Luis Obispo, Calif. George is currently serving on the New Mexico State University Foundation Board, which affords him periodic visits to campus.

Ann Palormo

Lowe

Lowe gift benefits Civil Engineering A gift of $344,000 from the estate of Joseph and Dorothy Lowe of El Paso has doubled the endowment pool for the Department of Civil Engineering and will be used to support student scholarships. Joseph Lowe graduated from then New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts with a degree in engineering in 1932. President of the senior class, ROTC cadet captain and member of the Mu Phi Pi engineering honorary society, he also played basketball for four years (earning two letters). Nicknamed The Colonel by his classmates, Lowe was described as one who could always be counted on to do his part. He demonstrated that during World War II, earning a Bronze Star with six clusters while working with the Army Corps of Engineers in Italy.

His civilian engineering career included working on the St. Lawrence Seaway project and the El Paso International Airport. He also designed the smog control devices for the Asarco smokestacks in El Paso.

Lowe was a third generation Aggie. His grandfather was a member of the first faculty assembled by Hiram Hadley and taught classic and modern languages from 1888 to 1892. Lowe’s father, a Las Cruces builder, earned his degree from then New Mexico A&M and served as an officer in the New Mexico National Guard.

Ann Palormo

Villanueva	Villanueva supports campus growth with gifts Danny Villanueva ’61 returned to campus in October to participate in the annual Danny Villanueva Scholarship Breakfast sponsored by Chicano Programs to raise funds for the endowment he established at New Mexico State University in 1991. The endowment benefits Hispanic students who demonstrate leadership potential. Villanueva, who attended New Mexico State on a football scholarship, was a star kicker for the Aggies and played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys before beginning a career in broadcasting in Los Angeles. He was a founder of Univision and Telemundo Spanishlanguage television networks, which he developed into multimillion-dollar businesses. Since the sale of those networks, Villanueva has served as chairman of Bastion Capital Corp. in California.
Villanueva has traditionally matched the proceeds of the scholarship’s annual fund-raising event. This year’s breakfast, attended by more than 400 people, raised $15,000 for the endowment. At the conclusion of the breakfast, Villanueva presented a check for the same amount on behalf of himself and his wife Myrna.
He also made a $250,000 gift to President Jay Gogue to support the new stadium annex project, unveiled at the Oct. 5 football game with the University of Texas - El Paso. Gifts from businessman Stan Fulton amounting to $2.2 million have spearheaded this new project that will house academic and athletic facilities. Villanueva’s gift will support a large dining facility to be named the Villanueva Victory Club. In accepting this gift, President Gogue said that Villanueva had been a generous and enthusiastic supporter of student scholarships at New Mexico State. The new gift will touch many more lives because it will help build an outstanding multipurpose facility that will benefit the entire campus and community as well. The new facility, which will be located on the south side of Aggie Memorial Stadium, is scheduled for completion in September 2003. Ann Palormo

Four Klipsch Professorships established

Four electrical engineering professors were named Klipsch Professors Oct. 11 at a ceremony in conjunction with Homecoming 2002.

The professorships have been established in memory of audio pioneer Paul W. Klipsch by his wife Valerie, who attended the ceremony.

“He is among us today in spirit,” she said. “Paul believed that living came in giving and that’s why Paul is still living.”

The endowment that will support the professorships was established with a $450,000 donation from Valerie Klipsch and matched by the state of New Mexico. Mrs. Klipsch also donated an additional $50,000 for support of the museum named after her husband.

New Mexico State Professors Michael Giles, Kwong Ng, Jamie Ramirez-Angulo and Satish Ranade were selected for the professorships by a committee and Department Head Steve Castillo.

“The professors were chosen based on teaching, research and service to the university,” Castillo said.

Giles joined the Klipsch School faculty in 1982 after working for 11 years as a research engineer for the U. S. Department of Defense. At New Mexico State, he and his students have developed and tested techniques for optical image and signal processing, imaging system characterization, programmable pupil function implementation using liquid crystal televisions, wave front sensing and adaptive optics.

Ng is the director of the Electromagnetics Laboratory at the Klipsch School. Before joining New Mexico State in 1990, he was an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Virginia. Over the past 15 years, he has been conducting research in the areas of computational electromagnetics, bioelectromagnetics and biomedical instrumentation.

Ramirez-Angulo is director of the Mixed-Signal Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) Circuits Laboratory and the NASA Center for Intelligent Systems Engineering at the Klipsch School. Before coming to New Mexico State in 1990, he was a professor at the National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics at Texas A&M. His research is related to the design and testing of analog and mixed-signal VLSI circuits.

Ranade joined New Mexico State in 1981 and his teaching and research is concentrated in the area of electric power systems. He is associated with the university’s Electric Utility Management Program.

Klipsch Professors will hold the title as long as they continue teaching at New Mexico State, but will be reviewed every three years to ensure they are continuing to maintain a high level of performance. The honor carries with it a stipend to supplement the recipient’s salary.

Klipsch, a renowned inventor, engineer and scientist, died in May at the age of 98. The university’s Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is named for him. He graduated from New Mexico A&M, now New Mexico State, in 1926 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

“Paul stood on the shoulders of giants,” Valerie Klipsch said, referring to his professors at New Mexico A&M. “He received not only an engineering degree, but a career.”

Julie M. Hughes

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