New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu has been named a venture partner of RIDGE-LANE Limited Partners, a strategic advisory and venture development firm founded by financier R. Brad Lane and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. (NMSU photo by Andres Leighton) New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu has been named a venture partner of RIDGE-LANE Limited Partners, a strategic advisory and venture development firm founded by financier R. Brad Lane and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.

RIDGE-LANE is an innovation ecosystem grand challenges in education, sustainability and information technology with a team of general partners, operating partners and senior advisers who have served at the highest levels of business, finance, government and the military.

"Dan Arvizu is a champion of sustainability whose expertise in advanced energy research and development, materials and process sciences, and technology commercialization makes him particularly well-suited to help us identify and scale the next generation of innovative companies," said R. Brad Lane, co-founder and chief executive officer of RIDGE-LANE Limited Partners. "We're excited to have him join our team, working at the intersection of science, technology and capital markets, with a mission to make the world a better place."

"Many of the goals and objectives established for RIDGE-LANE align perfectly with what we are working to accomplish here at NMSU," Arvizu said. "We want our university to be a catalyst for change, partnering with businesses, agencies and communities to further economic development and address a number of global grand challenges, including fortifying K-16 education, creating healthy borders and modernizing critical infrastructure."

This summer, Arvizu became NMSU Chancellor and 28th Chief Executive of the NMSU system. He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from NMSU in 1973.
In 2005, he was appointed the eighth director of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., and became the first Hispanic lab director in the history of any of the 17 U.S. DOE's national labs. He retired in December 2015 and is currently director emeritus.

Arvizu, a native of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was appointed in 2004 by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Science Board for a six-year term. He was subsequently reappointed by President Barack Obama in 2010. He was the first Hispanic chair of the National Science Board, which was founded in 1950, and was twice elected NSB chair by his peers, testifying annually on the National Science Foundation's budget before Congress.

Arvizu has served various roles at Emerson Collective including chief technology officer, STEM evangelist and senior adviser.