Alumni
Association honors six with Zia Award
The UNM
Alumni Association honored the 2003 Zia Award recipients at
the all-University Breakfast held in conjunction with UNMs
Homecoming festivities recently.
This year's
recipients were Gary Golden, Yolanda King, James B. Lewis, Petra
Jimenez Maes, Mary T. Torres and Robert Wertheim.
The Zia
Awards are given to alumni living in New Mexico who have distinguished
themselves in philanthropic endeavors, public office, service
to the university, community and volunteer activities, business
and professional fields or who have made a contribution to education.
Gary
Golden
Golden
is the vice president for Student Services at San Juan College
in Farmington. Prior, he was associate dean of students/director
of Student Activities and development at UNM, 1987-91. He also
served as assistant dean of students, also at UNM, from 1978-87.
Golden participated in numerous associations during his distinguished
career, including the National Council of Student Development;
Rutgers Alumni Association; the UNM Alumni Association; the
UNM Lobo Club; and the Scarlet R Club, and the Rutgers
Athletic Foundation.
Golden
earned his Ed.S in administration of higher education from UNM
in 1981.
Yolanda
King
A
Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
King is the technical advisor for the Spacecraft Technology
Division, and from 2001-02, she was technical advisor for the
Space Infrared Technologies Center of Excellence in the Space
Vehicles Directorate of the United States Air Force Research
Laboratory.
King earned
a B.S. in chemistry and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from UNM.
She served UNM on the Graduate Student Association; Alumni Association
Board; Conflict of Interest Committee; Dean of Arts & Sciences
Advisory Council; and two terms on the UNM Foundation Board.
James
B. Lewis
Lewis
has served in many capacities in both the public and private
sector and is currently chief of operations for the City of
Albuquerque overseeing 11 departments. He is one of three deputies
reporting to the chief administrative office (CAO). Additionally,
he advises the mayor and CAO on land use matters and downtown
redevelopment issues. Prior to this position, former President
Bill Clinton nominated Lewis to be director of the Office of
Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Lewis is also a member of many community organizations.
Lewis earned
an M.A. in public administration from UNM.
Petra
Jimenez Maes
Maes
was elected to the New Mexico Supreme Court in Nov. 1998 and
was retained in Nov. 2002 for an eight-year term. Last January,
she was designated by unanimous vote of her colleagues to serve
as chief justice, becoming New Mexicos first Latina/Hispanic
woman top judicial officer.
In 1981,
Gov. Bruce King appointed her to the First Judicial District
Court. A native of New Mexico, Maes earned her undergraduate
and law degrees from UNM. In 1973, she was one of the first
two Hispanic women to graduate from the UNM Law School.
Mary
T. Torres
Torres
is an attorney and shareholder in the firm Modrall, Sperling,
Roehl, Harris and Sisk in Las Cruces, NM. Prior to joining the
firm in 1996, she was an attorney in the office of T.A. Sandenaw,
also in Las Cruces. She has received numerous honors and awards.
Torres
is a member of many community organizations including the U.S.
District Court Magistrate Selection Panel; State Bar of New
Mexico and Memorial Medical Center Board of Directors.
She earned her J.D. from UNM in 1992.
Robert
Wertheim
A
native New Mexican, Wertheim was raised in Fort Sumner. Hes
a graduate of UNM, 1956, earning a B.B.A. He was also a member
of the NJROTC and spent two years as a naval officer following
graduation. He is a certified mortgage banker and currently
chairman of Charter Bank·Mortgage·Insurance, a
company that employs more than 250 people. In addition to his
banking activities, he is also active in the cattle business
in the Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa areas. He is past chairman
of the UNM Presidential Scholarship Fund and Board of Trustees
at the UNM Foundation.