The University of New Mexico

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Media contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail scarr@unm.edu

October 6, 2006

UNM's Alumni Association Honors Six with Zia Award

The UNM Alumni Association will honor six alumni with its Zia Award at the All-University Breakfast on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006 at 9 a.m. at the Albuquerque Petroleum Club. The recipients include: Dick Knipfing, senior anchor, KRQE News 13; District Judge Jane Shuler Gray; Chief Judge Judith Nakamura of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court; Tommy Roberts, lawyer; Janice Lucero, owner and founder, SafetyNet Works, Inc.; Marty Wilson, acting president, Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico. Additionally, Jane Blumenfeld, special education consultant, will be honored with the Lobo Award.

The Zia Award is presented to UNM alumni living in New Mexico, who have distinguished themselves in one, or many, of the following areas: philanthropic endeavors, public office, service to the University, community and volunteer activities, business/professional fields, or who have made a contribution to education. The Lobo Award is presented to an UNM alumna showing outstanding personal service to the institution or for notable career achievements that reflect credit on the University.

Dick Knipfing
Beginning as a reporter-photographer at Channel 13 and then working with the two other major Albuquerque television stations, Knipfing's broadcast career spans 43 years. His return to KRQE News 13 in 2000 as the senior anchor brings him full circle. Throughout his career he has served as a reporter, anchor and news director.

Amid his numerous awards for writing and reporting, Knipfing was inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle Society sponsored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Knifing credits UNM with his outset into TV news. As an UNM student looking for a job he found a 3x5 note card in UNM's placement bureau in 1963 which introduced him to broadcast journalism.

Jane Gray
An attorney for 29 years, Gray is currently district judge in the Fifth Judicial District. She is the first woman ever appointed to the position.

Not only noted for her experience in law, Gray is adept in the field of medicine having served as a critical care nurse at St. Joseph's Medical Center. Applying both skills she served as in-house legal counsel to a 300 employee insurance holding company and health maintenance organization. Until her appointment to the bench, Gray was Bar Commissioner for the Sixth Bar Commission District and is also a founding member of Board of Directors to the New Mexico Family Law Section.

Gray earned a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science in nursing at UNM and a juris doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Judith K. Nakamura
Nakamura is nearing completion of her seventh year serving the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. Elected anew by colleagues in May 2005 to a three-year term as chief judge, Nakamura acts as the Court's liaison to governing bodies and agencies of New Mexico, oversees policy planning and implementation, and appoints assorted committees. From the bench she presides over felony first appearance hearings and criminal misdemeanor cases, such as driving while under the influence and domestic violence.

Nakamura developed a traffic arraignment system credited with saving government approximately $1 million per year along by expanding domestic violence and DWI/Drug Court intervention programs. She recently won the National President's Award for Judge of the Year, 2006 given by Mothers against Drunk Drivers.

Nakamura earned a juris doctorate from the UNM School of Law in 1989.

Tommy Roberts
Roberts has practiced law in Farmington since 1976. Concentrating his practice primarily to oil and gas law – Roberts is recognized as a board-certified specialist.

Roberts is extensively involved in business, professional, and civic activities at state and local levels serving on numerous boards, councils and committees. He has been a member of the Board of Directors at the Farmington Boys and Girls Club for 20 years and served a two-year term as the president. He actively participated in the formation of two non-profit foundations in Farmington – the Foundation for Educational Excellence and the Farmington Boys and Girls Club Foundation.

Earning a degree in business Administration and a juris doctorate, Roberts graduated from UNM in 1976.

Janice Lucero
As former middle school instructor and administrator of 15 years, Lucero has used her educational background for entrepreneurial pursuits. Founding her company, SafetyNet Works, Inc., she has worked with the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division to much avail.

In 1994 Lucero developed a statewide DWI awareness program, “None for the Road,” a class for new residents seeking a New Mexico driver's license. A year later, she partnered with New Mexico Taxation and Revenue, and launched a pilot program that evolved into the current MVD Express. MVD Express has won the honor of Top 25 Woman Owned Business by New Mexico Woman Magazine for the last six years.

Lucero has also served as a board member of the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program for seven years. She earned a master's degree in special education and is currently working toward a degree as an Ed. Specialist in education administration.

Marty Wilson
Currently acting president on the board of directors for the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico, Wilson has served New Mexico through education. After working as an accomplished middle school and high school teacher for 19 years, she became the coordinator of curriculum outreach for Albuquerque Public Schools.

Included on a long list of community involvement, Wilson has recently given time volunteering for activities for breast cancer and has served the YWCA and Komen Foundation for women who need assistance. She served on the executive committee and as president of UNM Alumni Association.

Wilson holds three degrees from UNM including: a bachelor's in secondary education; a master's in curriculum and instruction; and an Ed. Specialist in educational administration.

Jane Blumenfeld
Blumenfeld has served as a special education consultant since 1986, spending six of those years as an instructor at UNM's Department of Special Education. She has served UNM through her service on the Dean's Advancement Council for the College of Education for the past six years, and was on the Special Education Advisory Council. She received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Education in 2005.

In 2003, Blumenfeld had a community service award named after her, ‘The Jane Blumenfeld Award,' by the Southwest Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. It is awarded annually to an individual for community service to learning and disabled children and adults.

Blumenfeld, who holds a doctorate from UNM, has also served on many boards and committees, several of which are associated with special education in the State Department of Education.

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The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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