Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821

February 10, 2003 TUCUMCARI-NATIVE SERVES ON UNM PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE Rosalyn Nguyen is no stranger to serving on boards and committees at the University of New Mexico. Nguyen, a senior business finance major at The Anderson Schools’ of Management and Tucumcari-native, has served on more than 10 boards and committees since arriving at UNM in 1999 as a Regents Scholar, one of UNM’s most prestigious scholarships. Recently, she was selected to serve on the search committee to help pick the University’s 18th President, a search that is expected to take up to a year to complete. Nguyen became interested in becoming a part of the search committee because of her conversations and relationship with former UNM President William Gordon, current President Chris Garcia, and because she is a member of the Trailblazers, a student organization that serves as campus ambassador to UNM events and alumni functions. “I think the main thing was my personal interaction with President Gordon on past occasions,” said Nguyen. “I used to see him at the Regents Scholars dinners. He is such a great man. He would be very personable and talk with everybody. It’s not only him, but I think the president of the University needs to open up a common ground of communication with the students because a lot of times it seems to involve only the higher level of administration, of course they have to control a lot of the operations that affect our University, but you also have to go down and remember the University is here because of the students.” So Nguyen applied for the position of UNM Presidential Search Committee undergraduate student representative. A short essay question, ‘why would you want to take part as member of the search committee,” may have been the clincher for her selection to the committee. “Common interactions made me interested in seeing who was going to be the next president, which inspired me to want to have a part and have a say in who was going to be selected,” Nguyen said. Associated Students of UNM (ASUNM) President Jennifer Onuska forwarded three names to the President’s office and that’s how Nguyen was selected. Nguyen recently concluded a year-long term as a senator of ASUNM where she was elected by the undergraduate student body with the most votes out of the 10 Senate seats available. “It’s going along really well,” Nguyen said of the search. “Last fall, before the Christmas break, we went through the qualifications and specifications for the president. The ad (for the position) ran for several months in higher education newsletters and newspapers. We had quite a number of applications.” Through the process of screening, the committee has whittled the list of possibilities down to 20 or 30 who will be reviewed again, which the committee has not yet finished. The committee, which consists of the Board of Regents, community members, faculty and staff and undergraduate and graduate members, then hopes to name finalists, conduct the interviews and eventually come up with a potential candidate for the job. Nguyen feels it takes a special person to be the president of a major university such as UNM. “There are a lot of high-achieving individuals that can do the job and are capable, but it takes a certain personality and character to stand as the president of the University,” said Nguyen. “It’s such an honor to sit there with all these people and have equal ground and equal say. They are so encouraging. When you look at that you have to remember that you are part of a team. You don’t think of who they are or what they do. You’re just working together toward a common goal. “The interaction is really great. I think more than anything to be a member is that it is motivating to be around people like that. My interaction with them just motivates me to succeed and to focus toward my goals and to just go for it. It’s nice to see adults who are so supportive of what you’re doing.” Nguyen is the daughter of Jan and Dr. Thanh Van Nguyen, who has a family practice in Tucumcari. Nguyen’s parents emigrated from Vietnam to the United States, New Mexico in particular, in 1975. Nguyen’s father also came to UNM and attended the School of Medicine (SOM) and served part of his residency there. Nguyen was the class valedictorian and a graduate from Tucumcari High School (THS) in 1999. Nguyen’s older brother, Jimmy, also a former Regents Scholar and class valedictorian at THS, is currently completing medical school at UNM. After graduation, he will pursue a neurology residency at the University of Arizona. # # #

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