Other NM universities announcements

New Mexico State University's College of Business will welcome its first Executive-in-Residence in spring 2026, bringing marketing veteran and former Aggie student-athlete John Cordova in for Spring semester to share his wealth of experience with NMSU students. 

Cordova – former Group Director of Sports Management at The Coca-Cola Company – will teach MKTG 354: Sports Marketing, an in-person course that will give students a behind-the-scenes look at how marketing strategy powers fan engagement, sponsorships and global brand partnerships across major sports properties, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. He will also co-teach a section of BUSA 1110: Introduction to Business for first-year business students. 

On a hot day in August 2025, Lourdes Ambriz, New Mexico State University senior program director, welcomed students and their families as they stopped by the TRIO Educational Talent Search tent at the TRIO Future Fest held at Tularosa High School. The event allowed students the chance to explore potential colleges, careers and resources from around the region.

Thanks to a five-year grant NMSU received in 2022 for the TRIO Talent Search program, 500 students from Tularosa High School, Alamogordo High School and Mountain View Middle School in Alamogordo participate in a year-round college preparatory program that assists with the financial aid and postsecondary application process.

People come and go. Buildings rise and fall. Trends cycle in and out of style. But one thing at NMSU has remained virtually unchanged for the better part of a century.

His name is Pistol Pete.

A Peter Pan-like character who never ages and sports a signature handlebar mustache, Pete made his debut as New Mexico State University's mascot in the 1950s, modeled after the fabled Western figure Frank Eaton. Pete is so closely tied to NMSU's identity that he sometimes eclipses pioneers like Hiram Hadley and Fabián García as the most recognizable face of NMSU.

The New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium is expanding its statewide outreach efforts to help communities better understand produced water, water scarcity and the science shaping future water decisions in New Mexico. The Consortium is a collaborative effort between New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Environment Department.

"As water scarcity, drought resilience and economic development become increasingly important for New Mexico, communities are seeking clarity about the role that produced water research may play in future water strategies," said Rosa Muñoz, Consortium program operations director. 

You might want to consider visiting the picnic area at La Buena Vida Park in Las Cruces. As the sun is setting, stop for a moment and look around. You'll see a softly glowing spectacle, a cluster of sculptures called "Desert Kinship."

The art project is the work of Kayla Blundell, who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at New Mexico State University earlier this year. Blundell competed for and received the commission from the City Art Board, City Council and City of Las Cruces to create a free-standing outdoor sculpture for the Las Cruces Public Art Collection, which was installed this fall at La Buena Vida Park, 3000 Buena Vida Circle.

On Aug. 5, 2015, the Gold King Mine Spill devastated communities along the Animas and San Juan rivers in the Four Corners region. The spill consisted of the unplanned, accidental release of 3 million gallons of mining sludge from the Gold King Mine in Colorado into the headwaters of the Animas River, which flows into the San Juan River.

Today, New Mexico State Universiy and other regional researchers continue to address concerns related to the spill through the Northwest New Mexico Agricultural Restoration Project, with funding from the New Mexico Attorney General's Office. The project, co-led by Kevin Lombard of NMSU's Agricultural Science Center at Farmington and Bonnie Hopkins Byers of the San Juan County Extension Office, aims to build capacity for soil health measures, establish pilot demonstrations for hoop houses and agricultural photovoltaics, and create digital storytelling efforts to raise awareness of farming along the San Juan River.

The day before he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in engineering physics and a minor in nuclear chemical engineering from New Mexico State University, Ethan French was already reaching for the stars. French, an NMSU Air Force ROTC cadet, was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Space Force on Dec. 12.

"I always wanted to go in the military and follow in my dad's footsteps, but I wanted to do something like space operations or just something with space," said Ethan French. "When I graduated high school in 2019 is when the Space Force became a thing. Back then nobody knew what the purpose of the Space Force was. But pretty much from that first semester on, I wanted to go into Space Force, and thankfully the opportunity came up. I applied for it and got it. Now, I'm super happy I get to join."

New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium recently hosted a weeklong conference for an international committee formed to preserve and protect aerospace artifacts – its first held in the United States.

New Mexico Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego was on hand to welcome to the committee to New Mexico at NMSU's Lee Sugarman Building, home to the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.