The 5th Annual Sarah Belle Brown award winners were announced by the Committee for Public Service and Community Engagement recently. The 2010 recipients included Adelamar Alcantara , Sr. Research Scientist from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Vanessa Apodaca, University and Community Liaison from the Vice President’s Office for Community Health and Regents’ Professor of Biology Maggie Werner-Washburne.
Photo (l. to r.): Anderson School of Management Dean Doug Brown, Sarah Belle Brown, Regents' Professor of Biology and Faculty Recipient Maggie Werner-Washburne and President David J. Schmidly.
Alcantara was recognized for her involvement in the Asian community. She has been president of both the Asian American Association and the Filipino American Association Boards. She was also the founder and current President of the Board of the New Mexico Asian Family Center for all Asians in New Mexico. The center specializes in Asian immigrantss, particularly victims of violence and crime, as a place to seek therapeutic, social and legal services. Alcantara was a previous recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women.
Apodaca is an alumni of AmeriCorps, a program that supports studetns who engage in community service. She has completed two 900 hour terms and continues to volunteer on a daily basis. Apodaca spent the past seven years working with the Santa Barbara/Martineztown Literacy Center and also several other community centers and schools around the state. Apodaca currently works in the Vice President’s Office for Community Health where she recruits students and community members to engage with eachother to provide solutions to hunger in New Mexico.
Werner-Washburne contributes regularly to the community through self-less sharing of expertise and passion for science, while helping to ignite that same passion in elementary and high school students. She has worked directly with Bandelier Elementary School, Menaul School and various other public schools.
As a valued member of the UNM community, Werner-Washburne is a dedicated educator who provides student advisement and as a mentor to students, parents and teachers providing them with a strong foundation to realize their educational dreams of the future. Werener-Washburne also donates her time to several scientific organizations.
The award, named for Sarah Belle Brown, the wife of Anderson School of Management Dean Doug Brown, who has dedicated countless hours to public service, recognizes a faculty, staff and student who serve as examples of social responsiveness and who have over an extended period of time, donated a considerable amount of personal time and effort advancing the University of New Mexico’s public service mission. The recipients were honored and recognized at a recent lunch at University House.