Breaking Ground on a Home for the Humanities

Last week, we broke ground on UNM’s new Humanities & Social Sciences Building, joined by students, faculty, donors, and distinguished guests, including Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Groundbreaking is more than the start of construction; it is a statement about what we value and how we envision our future. This $130.5 million investment reflects our commitment to student success, academic excellence, and service to New Mexico.

When the building opens in 2029, it will be a home for eight academic departments, four interdisciplinary institutes, and the Language Learning Center. The humanities and social sciences teach us to think critically, write clearly, and understand one another. Those skills serve to build successful careers and strengthen democracy, and they have been at the heart of a Lobo education for generations. My thanks to everyone who made this possible. Nearly every Lobo will take a class there before graduating and leave to shape New Mexico’s future!

A New Chapter in Caring for New Mexico

I am delighted to share that The University of New Mexico will welcome the first cohort of its new Master of Social Work program in spring 2027. Housed in the School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and funded by a Higher Education Department endowment, the program will help address our state’s critical need for social workers. Students will choose between clinical and medical social work, the latter a first in New Mexico, and will complete 900 hours of hands-on practice. With the state’s only academic teaching hospital, UNM is uniquely positioned to educate these compassionate professionals. Congratulations to all those who made this important program happen.

Honors College Shines on the National Stage

What a remarkable fall semester our UNM Honors College is having. Dean Naomi Yavneh Klos has been named to the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 2026 Class of Fellows, a peer-reviewed distinction recognizing sustained contributions to honors teaching, scholarship, leadership, and service. She will be honored at the NCHC Awards Ceremony in New Orleans in November. Her recognition celebrates leadership that strengthens honors education well beyond our campus.

Meanwhile, our students are showing what they achieve with exemplary leadership. Scribendi, the Honors College literary arts magazine, earned first place in the Journal category of the NCHC Honors Publications Contest. Under the guidance of faculty editor Amaris Ketcham, student writers, editors, and designers produced work that meets rigorous national standards. Congratulations to Dean Yavneh Klos and the entire Scribendi team whose creativity and dedication are energizing honors education at UNM.

Bringing Quality Care Closer to Home

Earlier this week, UNM Health opened the Sandia Vista Primary Care Clinic in Albuquerque’s Southwest Mesa, bringing family medicine, preventive care, women’s healthcare, radiology, and audiology to a community that asked for greater access. Shaped by listening sessions that UNM Health and Bernalillo County held with neighbors, the $19 million clinic is expected to welcome about 21,000 patient visits each year, with staff hired from the surrounding community.

There’s more; Sandia Vista is also a training ground. Resident physicians, nurse practitioner students, and physician assistant students will learn there, helping to grow the healthcare workforce we need in New Mexico. This new facility makes me proud. It fulfills our purpose as an academic health system: caring for people today while preparing the caregivers for tomorrow.

A Landmark Gift for the School of Law

I am thrilled to share a historic milestone at our School of Law, where alumni Curtis Huff (‘82) and Lori Gallagher (‘84) have committed $5.7 million, the largest gift in the School of Law’s history. Made in support of the Accelerate New Mexico campaign, and named after a beloved UNM faculty mentor, it will establish the Theodore Parnall Endowed Chair in Business Law, honoring Dean Emeritus Ted Parnall (‘67), and a new Corporate, Business and Transactional Law Program. This vision will strengthen faculty excellence, open doors for students, and prepare Lobo attorneys to help turn the breakthroughs emerging from UNM into businesses, jobs, and growth across our state. Thank you, Curtis and Lori, for investing so generously in New Mexico’s future.

Your Library Books, Stat

Good news for anyone who has ever trekked across Lomas in the New Mexico sun to pick up a book: UNM Libraries’ campus delivery service is growing. What began as a 2023 pilot for the Department of English Language and Literature now serves seven departments across five campus locations, bringing library materials straight to department mailboxes. Eligible faculty, staff, and graduate students can request items from central campus libraries, the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, and the School of Law Library, and returns are as easy as dropping books in a blue bin. To sign up, set Campus Delivery as your preferred pickup location in your ILLiad account. Your next read is as close as your mailbox.

Honoring Our Lobo Veterans

Please join me with UNM Alumni on Wednesday, November 11, at 10 a.m. at the Alumni Memorial Chapel to honor the courage and sacrifice of our veterans, including the many Lobos who have served our nation. The Veterans Day Celebration will feature keynote speaker Commander Jessica L. McNulty, U.S. Navy, a 2003 UNM graduate and fourth-generation sailor. Veterans will receive a special pin of appreciation, and a reception will follow in the chapel courtyard. All are welcome to attend, but please register at UNMAlumni.com/VeteransDay.

President’s Survey is Still Open

There is still time to share your thoughts with me in a brief survey on what is working, what can be improved, and what your aspirations are for UNM over the next decade, as we approach our 150th anniversary. It only takes a few minutes to complete, and your answers will shape our plans. The survey will close on October 31, so I hope you will take a moment before then to help us write our next chapter.