Date:
5/5/2005
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
PORTALES — Dr. Michael V. Martin, president of New Mexico State University, will give the commencement address at Eastern New Mexico University's 108th Commencement Convocation at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, in Greyhound Arena. There are 330 candidates for graduation.
Othergraduation activities include a Nurses' Pinning at 1:30 p.m. on Friday,May 13, in Buchanan Hall of the Music Building; an Academic HonorsConvocation at 3 p.m. in the University Theatre Center; and aCommencement Reception, hosted by Alumni Affairs, honoring newgraduates from 4-5 p.m. in the Campus Union Ballroom. The Board ofRegents will also meet at 9:30 a.m. on Friday in the Regents Room ofthe Administration Building.
Martin became president of NMSU on July 1, 2004. Before coming to NMSU, he served
for six years as vice president for agriculture and natural resourcesat the University of Florida, leading the university's Institute ofFood and Agricultural Sciences with more
than 3,000 employees statewide. He was elevated to senior vicepresident of the University of Florida shortly before being selected asNMSU's president.
"Weare very pleased to have attracted someone the stature of Dr. Martin tobe our commencement speaker," said Dr. Steven Gamble, ENMU president. "With his agricultural background and expertise, we feel that he is aperfect fit for this area. We are also excited about his expertise inmarketing, international trade, public policy, transportation andbusiness logistics. We are very grateful to Dr. Martin for taking timeout of his busy schedule to come to Eastern."
Previously,Dr. Martin was vice president for agricultural policy and the dean ofthe college of agricultural, food and environmental sciences at theUniversity of Minnesota. He began his academic career at Oregon StateUniversity as a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural andResource Economics.
A nativeof Crosby, Minn., Dr. Martin completed a bachelor's degree in businessand economics and a master's degree in economics at Mankato StateCollege (Minnesota State University) in Minnesota. He received hisPh.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1977. Hecontinues to be active as a scholar and has written numerous bookchapters and articles for academic journals, trade publications and thepopular press.
Dr. Martin andhis wife, Jan, have two children, both adopted from Korea. Amanda, agraduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, is a graphic artistin Saint Paul, Minn. Sam, with a bachelor's degree from the Universityof Minnesota, is a graduate student at Sarah Lawrence College in NewYork.