Other NM universities announcements

With more than two decades at New Mexico State University and recognition as one of New Mexico's Top 50 Women Leaders, Winnie (Yu-Feng) Lee has been appointed interim director of the university's Arrowhead Center and CEO of Arrowhead Inc. 

Lee holds a Ph.D. and a bachelor's degree in economics from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, having been accelerated from the master's program into the doctoral program during her graduate studies. With over two decades at NMSU, she most recently served as department head and professor of economics in the Department of Economics, Applied Statistics, and International Business at the College of Business. She has directed the Doctor of Economic Development program since 2019 and was recognized as one of New Mexico's Top 50 Women Leaders by the Women We Admire Organization in 2024. 

Since taking over the Sam Steel Café in Gerald Thomas Hall, Kelley Coffeen has led a team from New Mexico State University's Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in developing a retail concept tailored to students' tastes and budgets.

After months of working with FCS staff and students from her buying class, Coffeen has landed on what she believes is a bankable model. She gave the space a new name, ACES Coffee and Gifts, introduced a streamlined food and drink menu of affordable options, and added a few extra touches to keep customers coming back.

"We decided as a team that we wanted it to be affordable for the students," said Coffeen, fashion design and merchandising associate professor. "We dropped all the prices, and we tried to keep our markups fairly low where we make a reasonable profit, but we're not overcharging."

Learn about the neighborhoods of Chicago in a series of short stories as part of the Nelson-Boswell Reading Series. La Sociedad para Las Artes will host a public reading by Barry Pearce, author and New Mexico State University alum, from his most recent publication "The Plan of Chicago: A City in Stories."

The reading begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6 in NMSU's CMI Theater in Milton Hall, Room 171. A free reception will follow, where copies of "The Plan of Chicago: A City in Stories" will be available for purchase.

Archived on YouTube, a video of the historic New Mexico State University women's rugby victory in April 2025 highlights the aggression, speed and brute toughness that helped these Aggies to upset the defending national champion at the Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s tournament near Washington, D.C. 

NMSU players plow through opponents. They spring back to their cleats, unbothered, after slamming into the turf, maybe taking a quick second to verify their hair tie survived the latest core-rattling collision. 

Aman Priyadarshi Kumar, New Mexico State University astronomy Ph.D. student, didn't start his graduate studies with solar flares, but he's always been interested in them. When NMSU Astronomy Assistant Professor Juie Shetye asked him to lead a data cataloging project, that interest led them to notice small, compact brightening areas on the sun that preceded nearby solar flares. Today, Kumar's paper, "Compact Ca II K brightenings precede solar flares: A Dunn Solar Telescope Pilot Study," was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the third-most impactful scientific journal in astronomy.

The chromosphere is a dynamic layer of the sun that is home to flares and other types of solar activity. Astronomers make observations of this layer using a specialized filter, tuned to the wavelength of ionized calcium K (Ca II K) for a more targeted view, and then plot that data into a light curve. A solar flare appears as a peak in that curve.

New Mexico State University's Department of Civil Engineering has officially changed its name to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a move that reflects the department's longstanding academic strengths, evolving research priorities and commitment to addressing today's most pressing environmental challenges.

The name change was approved through the university's academic governance process, and aligns the department's identity with the degree programs it currently offers and the expertise it has developed over several decades.

With more than 40,000 New Mexico youth participating in 4-H activities throughout the state, New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service 4-H agents support programming for communities across all 33 counties. Several NMSU 4-H agents and 4-H youth development department staff were honored at the 2025 National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, in October. 

"Having NMSU Cooperative Extension Service agents recognized at the national level highlights the high-quality, innovative programming that New Mexico professionals are delivering at the county, regional and statewide levels," Hildago County Extension Program Director and 4-H Agent Savannah Daniels said. "These honors reflect the dedication of Extension professionals meeting community needs and providing impactful education across the state." 

The New Mexico State University Aggie Career Studio will host the 21st annual Career Connections Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3 and Wednesday, Feb. 4. This two-day event will be held at Corbett Center Student Union, third floor ballrooms. 

Career Connections, which is open to NMSU students and alumni along with area community members, is the second-largest career fair of the academic year and offers attendees a valuable opportunity to connect with employers who are actively recruiting for internships, co-ops and full-time positions. Employers from across the United States will attend as they kick off their spring recruitment season and seek to connect with recent and upcoming graduates.