Gov. Susana Martinez/Courtesy photoSTATE News:
SANTA FE ― Gov. Susana Martinez has announced appointments to the Brain Injury Advisory Council, Children’s Trust Fund Board of Directors, Economic Development Commission, Economic Partnership, Education Commission of the States, Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors, Interstate Stream Commission, Livestock Board, Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents, Board of Optometry, Board of Pharmacy, State Parks Advisory Board, State Transportation Commission and Board of Veterinary Medicine.
Casilda Gallegos of Las Vegas has been appointed to the Brain Injury Advisory Council. Gallegos is a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. She earned a Master of Arts in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.
Dominic Moreno of Las Cruces has been appointed to the Brain Injury Advisory Council. Moreno is the associate athletic trainer and head football athletic trainer for New Mexico State University. He has also taught college courses in sports medicine and physical education. He holds a Master of Education from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
David Willden of Roswell has been appointed to the Children’s Trust Fund Board of Directors. Willden is the executive director of Pecos Valley Regional Education Cooperative Eight. Previously, he was the superintendent for Raton Public Schools, and he also served as a principal, teacher and coach for Farmington Municipal Schools. Wilden holds a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
Paul Silverman of Albuquerque has been appointed to the Economic Development Commission. Silverman is manager and CEO of Geltmore, LLC, a family-owned real estate development company he established in 1991. He has served in leadership capacities for many national and local organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
John Heaton of Carlsbad has been appointed to the Economic Partnership. Heaton is chair of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance. He is also a former member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, where he served from 2006 through 2010. Heaton holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Dr. Barbara Damron of Santa Fe has been appointed to the Education Commission of the States. Damron is cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department. She has more than 30 years of experience as an executive, healthcare provider, scientist and educator with a focus on policy and healthcare. Damron holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
Matt Pahl of Santa Fe has been appointed to the Education Commission of the States. Pahl is executive director of the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools. He previously served as the policy director for the New Mexico Public Education Department and as a program evaluator for the Legislative Finance Committee. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.
Rep. Dennis Roch of Logan has been appointed to the Education Commission of the States. Roch is superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools. In 2008, he was elected to represent District 67 in the New Mexico House of Representatives where he serves on the House Education Committee and the Interim Legislative Education Study Committee. Roch holds a Master of Arts from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Joseph Shepard of Silver City has been appointed to the Education Commission of the States. Shepard is the president of Western New Mexico University. He has also held other senior-level leadership positions at higher education establishments for more than 20 years. Shepard earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration from Florida International University in Miami, Florida.
Walter Gerstle of Albuquerque has been appointed to the Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors. Gerstle is a registered professional engineer and has been a professor of Civil Engineering at the University of New Mexico since 1986. He has also researched at NASA, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Gerstle holds a Doctor of Philosophy in engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Toni Laumbach of Las Cruces has been appointed to the Board of the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. Laumbach was the deputy director and chief curator at the museum for 20 years before she retired. She was also inducted into the Dona Ana County Historical Society’s Hall of Fame in 2015. Laumbach holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Molly Manzanares of Tierra Amarilla has been appointed to the Livestock Board. Manzanares has been a rancher in Northern New Mexico for 30 years. She is also co-owner of an organic certified lamb meat and yarn businesses. Previously, she served as New Mexico executive director for the United States Agriculture Department Farm Service Agency.
Carolyn Hollifield of Roswell has been appointed to the Interstate Stream Commission. Hollifield has co-owned and managed the Brown Brothers Ranch for more than two decades, managing the cultivation, watering and harvesting of crops as well as seasonal crop rotation and water management. She has also served as a supervisor for the Chaves County Soil and Water Conservation District since 2015.
Samuel Gonzales of Aztec has been appointed to the Interstate Stream Commission. Gonzales is lifetime irrigator and acequia member and also served as chairman of the MB Ditch Association from 2001 to 2005. He has also served on the advisory board of the acequias nortenas since 2001.
Joshua Martinez of Santa Cruz has been appointed to the Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents. Martinez is an engineering student at NNMC.
Robert Rhodes of Alto has been appointed to the Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents. He has been involved in higher education for nearly three decades in workforce development and training, community outreach and teaching business and management courses. Rhodes holds a Doctorate of Education from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
Maurice Geldert of Roswell has been appointed to the Board of Optometry. Geldert has practiced optometry since 1976. He is a former president of the New Mexico Optometric Association. He holds a Doctor of Optometry from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee.
Bill Lord of Albuquerque has been appointed to the Board of Pharmacy. He is the regional pharmacy director for Community Health Systems. Lord holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Paula Seanez of Window Rock has been appointed to the State Rehabilitation Council. Saenez is the assistant director of the Navajo Nation Department of Dine Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. She holds a Master of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Patrick Killen of Albuquerque has been appointed to the State Parks Advisory Board. Killen is the New Mexico Director of Government and Public Affairs for BP. He was formerly an Assistant State Lands Commissioner in the New Mexico State Lands Office. Killen holds a Bachelor of Science from the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York.
Billy Moore of Thoreau has been appointed to the State Transportation Commission. Moore is the executive director of the Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority. He is also former chairman of the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments and served eight years as a McKinley County Commissioner.
Lawrence Young of Artesia has been appointed to the Board of Veterinary Medicine. Young owns the Artesia Animal Clinic. He was the 2003 Veterinarian of the Year for the New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association. Young holds a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
