
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, 277-5915
May 3, 2007
UNM Commencement May 12 at Pit
Three to receive honorary degrees
Senator Jeff Bingaman will deliver the keynote address at the University of New Mexico spring commencement Saturday, May 12, at 9 a.m. in the University Arena, “the Pit.”
Pueblo author Joe S. Sando, communitiy organizer and political advocate Frank I. Sanchez and environmental health visionary Larry J. Gordon will receive honorary degrees at the ceremony.
UNM Acting President David Harris will confer a projected total of 2,486 degrees upon UNM main campus graduates – 1,680 bachelor's degrees, 502 master's degrees, 65 doctorates, 101 juris doctorates, 62 medical doctorates, 62 pharmacy doctorates, five graduate certificates and nine education specialists.
UNM regent Jack Fortner will greet graduates on behalf of the UNM Board of Regents. Fortner and fellow regents, Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia, UNM administrators, deans, faculty and staff are among the platform group. Richard W. Holder, deputy provost, is master of ceremonies, and Vivian Valencia, University Secretary, chief marshal.
Deanna V. Armijo, receiving a bachelor of business administration degree, has been selected to deliver the student address. A 2003 graduate of St. Pius X High School, at UNM she was chosen by the National Fraternity Council to lobby in Washington D.C. on behalf of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act and College Fire Prevention Act. A UNM presidential scholar, she was the recipient of several campus awards, honors and scholarships.
The University Band, conducted by Chad Simons, will play a selection of music for the ceremony's prelude and processional. Katherine Price, who is receiving a bachelor’s in music, will sing the national anthem and alma mater.
Provost Reed Dasenbrock will recognize honors graduates and award the Tom L. Popejoy Dissertation Prize to Elizabeth Bagwell for her dissertation "Domestic Architectural Production in Northwest Mexico."
Following the ceremony, President Harris and the UNM Alumni Association invite graduates, their families and friends to a reception under the big tent at the Pit. The association will also hold an open house for graduating seniors Monday – Friday, May 7-11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Hodgin Hall.
Individual convocation ceremonies are scheduled at various departments and colleges May 11-12.
Honorary Degree Recipients
Joe S. Sando, Doctor of Letters
Sando is honored forcontributions to Native American studies, Pueblo history and the Spanish-Colonial history of the Southwest.
A noted author, consultant and lecturer, Sando, of Jemez Pueblo, has written a number of published books. He is a regular columnist for the AlbuquerqueTribune. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southwestern Association of Indian Art.
Sando served as director for the Institute for Pueblo Indian Studies/Pueblo Archives at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque for more than two decades, retiring in 2005, the year he was officially recognized for his work by the 47 th New Mexico Legislature. He taught at UNM and the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.
Frank I. Sanchez, Doctor of Humane Letters
Frank I. Sanchez is recognized for contributions to community organizing, political advocacy, philanthropy and public service in New Mexico and the Southwest.
Sanchez worked to ensure voting rights, increasing legislative representation for Mexican American and American Indian voters.
For the past 20 years, he worked in the philanthropy field, bringing funding to the region’s most impoverished neighborhoods and communities. Sanchez’s personal papers are archived at the Center for Southwest Research, UNM Libraries. The archive was among the first to document grassroots community activity and is one of the library’s most heavily used manuscript collections.
Larry J. Gordon, Doctor of Humane Letters
Larry J. Gordon is hailed for his long-term commitment and leadership in the areas of environmental and public health. He earned bachelors and masters degrees in science from UNM, and a master of public health degree from Michigan.
Gordon founded and directed the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Environmental Health Department, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency and the New Mexico Scientific Laboratory System, and subsequently served as New Mexico cabinet secretary for health and environment. He was also active as an officer of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Gordon was a senior fellow for the Institute for Public Policy and adjunct professor in the School of Public Administration and Political Science Department. Throughout his career, he mentored scores of environmental health practitioners who subsequently achieved eminence.
###
www.unm.edu