FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portales, NM – March 4, 2025– Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has reappointed Lance Pyle and appointed Emily Wilbanks to the Eastern New Mexico University Board of Regents.

Lance Pyle –Lance Pyle is starting his second term as an ENMU regent, initially being appointed to a 6-year term in March of 2019. He currently serves as Curry County Manager, a position he has held since December 2007. After graduating from Melrose High School, Mr. Pyle earned an associate degree in Business Administration with honors from Clovis Community College in December 2001.

He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with distinction from ENMU in December 2004. He served on the Melrose City Council and was elected mayor of Melrose (2006-10).

He served first as interim Curry County manager but was named the permanent county manager two months later. In 2017, Pyle received a credentialed manager designation through the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and is the only third New Mexico County Manager to have reached that designation.

Pyle serves on several boards and committees at the local and state level. He is the chairman of the New Mexico County Insurance Authority Workers Compensation Pool Board, a member of the New Mexico County Insurance Authority Multi-Line Insurance Pool Board, and a member of the New Mexico Amigos Goodwill Ambassadors for the State of New Mexico. Mr. Pyle married his wife in 2010; he and his wife have two daughters.

Pyle has been named a regent for a six-year term through Dec. 31, 2031.

Emily Wilbanks –Emily Wilbanks, from Portales, New Mexico, will graduate with her bachelor's in communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism and public relations from Eastern New Mexico University in May 2025. Wilbanks will begin her master's degree in communications in August 2025.

Since starting school in January 2023, Wilbanks has made it her mission to serve her peers, her community, and Eastern New Mexico University. As a dedicated communications student, Wilbanks has pursued much on-air and behind-the-scenes work to tell the stories of the people and ideas that should be heard. Wilbanks is now the student podcast producer and host of a wellness podcast at Eastern called Greyhound Grit through the health and wellness department. Through various opportunities for volunteer work and public advocacy on campus, Wilbanks has spent her time at Eastern as an active and passionate student.

Wilbanks comes from a family of dedicated Eastern Alumni dating back to 1968. With her Greyhound family background and her goals of servitude, she is dedicated to making the campus a better place for every student who steps foot into Eastern New Mexico University.

Wilbanks has been named a student regent to a two-year term through December 31, 2026.