UNM Hosts Spanish Royalty; Endowed Chair Advisory Committee

The University of New Mexico NEWS RELEASE

Media contact: Susan McKinsey 277-1807, (cell) 505-362-5530 October 2, 2009 UNM Hosts Spanish Royalty; Endowed Chair Advisory Committee Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, will visit the University of New Mexico campus Monday, Oct. 5, for the fourth meeting of the advisory committee for the Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair in Information Science and Related Technologies. This will be the third visit to UNM by H.R.H. The Prince of Asturias since 2000, when the chair was established. The royal couple, Felipe, Prince of Asturias, whose full name is Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia, and his wife, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, Princess of Asturias, will be accompanied by officials from the Spanish ministries of Foreign Affairs and Science and Innovation, and by the Ambassador of Spain to the United States. They will meet with President David J. Schmidly, Provost Suzanne Ortega and a group of administrators and engineering faculty, including Dr. Fernando Pérez-González, who recently began his tenure in UNM’s School of Engineering as the second Prince of Asturias Professor. Funded by Iberdrola, the fourth largest electric utility in the world, the Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair was created at the initiative of former U.S. Ambassador to Spain Edward Romero to advance the state of knowledge in a number of areas within the information science and technology field. It also promotes collaboration between Spanish and U.S. scholars by bringing a preeminent Spanish scientist to UNM to engage in teaching and research. The departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Sciences currently share the chair. UNM hosts one of three Prince of Asturias Endowed Chairs in the U.S., with the others residing at Tufts and Georgetown universities. This will be the fourth meeting of the endowed chair advisory committee and the second to be presided by T.R.H. The Prince and Princess of Asturias are visiting New Mexico to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe. ###

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