When the Aggie Class of ’86 got together for its 20-year reunion last year, Robert Cullins wasn’t able to join his classmates in remembering old times and catching up on each other’s lives.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it back,” says Robert Cullins, an economics major in the College of Business, “but I remember fondly the time I had at NMSU. Whether it was basketball and concerts at the Pan Am, or at White Sands Missile Range under the full moon or volleyball at midnight, it was all very memorable for me.”

It’s understandable why Cullins wasn’t able to attend. He’s now in Tokyo, Japan, where he is the president and CEO of Maxxium Japan, a global leader in fine wine and luxury spirits production, marketing and distribution. He is in charge of importing, marketing and distribution of the company’s products in Japan, which includes ABSOLUT Vodka, The Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon and Rémy Martin Cognac. There are around 350 employees in Japan, with revenue of roughly $300 million.

In part, he credits his experience at NMSU for helping lay the foundation for his future success, which has led him to various cities in the U.S. and abroad.

“The training and education I received at NMSU helped show me how business and economy works,” he says. “I also was able to grow as a person and find out more about myself.”

Although his travels have taken him all over the world – he’s lived or worked on every continent except Africa – Cullins says he has always made sure to balance career and family.

“I’ve learned you must consolidate all the aspects of your life,” he says. “It’s incredibly important to make time for family, even if you literally have to schedule it along with everything else you have going on.”

Although his three children (Meagan, 13, Haley, 10, and Connor, 9) are living in Miami with their mother, Cullins says technology makes it possible for him to see them daily.

“With Skype and Webcams, I am able to be there for them in real time,” he says. “I’m able to help them with their homework or just talk. It allows me to do parenting from a distance.”