Date:
9/23/2010
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 575.562.2253
PORTALES—Eastern New Mexico University will present several ENMU Foundation and Alumni Association awards during this year's homecoming breakfast on Saturday morning, Sept. 25, in the Campus Union Building.
The ENMU Foundation Awards:
The Business of the Year Award will go to Doris and James Cassan of Dollar Rent A Car.
Being raised in the small town of Causey southeast of Portales, Doris Cassan said Eastern New Mexico University gave and continues to give small-town kids like her a chance. She attended the Business Education program at ENMU from 1957 to 1961. Her husband, James, grew up in Portales, and went to school at New Mexico State University to receive an engineering degree. The couple exchanged vows in 1961 and soon after started a family.
Throughout their lives they lived in numerous places, but in the mid 60s James accepted a position with the Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle, Wash. It was in Washington where the two have spent the majority of their lives together, raising their children and building their business, Dollar Rent A Car, which they began in 1968.
Cassan Enterprises, Inc., is a Silver Greyhound Society member in the Annual Honor Roll. They are a Pearl Level member to the new Lifetime Giving Recognition, The Friends of Eastern Society. Initially, their Dollar Rent A Car scholarship was given to other area rural students to give them the same opportunity that Doris had been given.
“It was one way I could give back to the community that had formed my basic values, honest hard work, and belief in God and country,” said Mrs. Cassan. Over the years, they have given a total of $53,500 to their scholarship, Dollar Rent A Car Endowment.
The Philanthropist of the Year will go to Betty Chamblin Joyner.
Growing up in San Diego, Calif. Chamblin Joyner transferred to ENMU in 1960 as a sophomore seeking a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Soon after moving to Portales, she met the love of her life, Donald. In September 1960, they were married and moved to Clovis, where Don was employed as a junior high school counselor. Betty then drove daily to ENMU from Clovis, so she could finish her studies—completing her bachelor’s in 1962 and master’s in 1963.
In 1966 they moved to Louisiana where Don taught at LSU—Monroe, and Betty was awarded a teaching assistantship at Louisiana Tech from where she received a Doctorate of Business Administration degree in l973. They finally ended up moving to Corpus Christi in l974 to teach at Texas A&M—Corpus Christi, where they both retired as full professors in 2003.
To date, she has donated over $30,000 to the Donald and Betty Joyner Endowed Scholarship. Because of this generosity, Dr. Betty Joyner is a Gold Level member of the Lifetime giving recognition, The Friends of Eastern Society. She and her husband established the Donald and Betty Joyner Endowed Scholarship in 2005. The couple has also included the ENMU Foundation in their estate plans.
After retiring, Chamblin Joyner now does yoga three times a week to stay in shape. “I love birds,” she said, and can often be found watching coastal as well as migrating birds from her waterfront patio across Oso Bay from the University and the Naval Air Station. Bird baths and a bird feeder have been installed to encourage the visitors to stay awhile.
The Volunteer of the Year will go to Dr. Kathleen Salter. With a Ph.D. in mathematics from Northwestern University, she has been teaching math for 40 plus years. Salter's first job was teaching math at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In 1972, she was hired as a full-time math professor at ENMU and continued her service until her retirement in 2006.
She said, “Portales was a change but I felt comfortable in the math department.”
Her love of math encouraged her to sponsor the “Math and Science Bowl” at ENMU for junior high and high school students. Helping students succeed at Eastern also prompted her to serve as the faculty sponsor for the St. Thomas Moore Newman Center from the late 70s to the mid 90s. She also served as department chair for several years and helped shape math curriculum for the program until her retirement in 2006.
In 2006, Salter started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. “I wanted to try something new and different,” she commented, “and I enjoy helping build new homes for families in need.” She’s picked up a number of building skills and good friends as a result and currently serves as vice president of Habitat’s Board of Directors.
Salter not only gives of her time and talent but also her treasure. She is a Gold Level Member of the Lifetime Giving Recognition, The Friends of Eastern Society. She has donated over $29,000 to ENMU supporting the music program, Bench Club, University Friends of Music and numerous scholarships.
The Alumni Association Awards:
The Honorary Lifetime Alumni Award goes to Sen. Rod Adair. Sen. Adair was elected to the State Senate in 1996, serving District 33 which includes Chaves and Lincoln counties. He has received numerous awards from schools, business organizations, civil rights groups, property rights organizations and local civic organizations. During this time, he has held positions on numerous committees and currently serves on the Senate Finance Committee.
Senator Adair grew up in Hagerman, N.M. He is a retired Army officer who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in government. He is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute (Spanish), the Command and General Staff College and the Airborne School.
He is a strong proponent of legal and judicial reform in New Mexico. Senator Adair has secured passage of three major domestic violence reform statutes in the past four years, and since 2004 has secured almost $2 million dollars to build and maintain domestic violence shelters in Chaves and Lincoln counties.
The Outstanding Alumni Awards go to Scott Fischer and Ben T. Robinson.
Fischer received his bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems from Eastern New Mexico University. He also graduated from executive education programs at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business and the University of Southern California.
His business experience encompasses over 30 years. Fischer started as a reporter and ended as the president of a newspaper division for Freedom Communications where he managed more than a dozen, and assisted with an additional two dozen, acquisitions or dispositions of newspapers, television stations and magazines. He established a reputation in business innovation, operations efficiency, and business development. As a corporate leader, he participated in all major operational decisions for a billion dollar company.
He currently works on cold case files for a sheriff’s office in Colorado. He has been the president of three chambers of commerce, four United Way boards, four military affairs organizations and four economic development commissions.
Robinson is the vice president for Institutional Advancement for the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. In this position, he works directly for the president of OSSM on strategic programs, initiatives and planning. He is also the owner/president of Sentry One LLC which is an aerospace industry consulting company.
Prior to his current positions, Robinson was a Boeing executive and director of Boeing Aerospace Operations, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Boeing Site and the executive program director of the Boeing KC-135 program. He retired from active duty with the U.S. Air Force as a Brigadier General in 2002 after 33 years. He was a director on the air staff in Washington, D.C., and the vice commander of the 8th Air Force. He was awarded the military’s highest service decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal, for his service to the military.
Robinson earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management at Eastern New Mexico University and a master’s degree in Industrial Management at Central Michigan University. In addition, he completed a one- year course with MIT as an International Relations Fellow.
The Distinguished Service Awards will go to Judy Armstrong and Danny Woodward.
Armstrong has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English from ENMU. She received a doctoral degree in educational Administration from the University of New Mexico in 1995. She began her career as an educator in Kansas and then moved to Roswell to become the assistant director of the Roswell Public Library.
She then began her 35-year tenure at ENMU-Roswell where she worked as an English/communication instructor, director of the Developmental Studies Department, associate dean of Planning and Instructional Support and dean of Instruction. She then served as provost from 2001 through 2008 before retiring.
Her career benefited not only students seeking an education but community agencies in Roswell, Chaves County and regional non-profit organizations. She is a member of a number of professional organizations and is also involved in numerous community organizations, including Altrusa International of Roswell. She also serves on the Roswell Public Library Board, the Chaves County Community Foundation Board and the Chaves County Casa Board.
Woodward was raised in Portales. He graduated from Portales High School and earned a degree in Business Administration from ENMU. He is also a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America and a certified bench jeweler from Jewelers of America.
He has been the owner operator of Woody’s Jewelry, a family-run business that opened in 1955 on the Portales Square, since 1980. He has led the downtown business community by example by continually evolving the store’s appearance, business operating practices and strategic innovation.
Woodward is a highly active community member. He served as the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter Advisor and on the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Board. He currently serves on the Mental Health Resources Board of Directors and the Portales Mainstreet Board, serving as president since 2002.