Business Owner Named NMSU Regent

SANTA FE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez has appointed a Las Cruces business owner to the New Mexico State University board of regents.

The governor selected Kari Mitchell to fill a vacancy on the university’s governing board created by the resignation of Laura Conniff, who was appointed in 2001 by former Gov. Gary Johnson and reappointed by former Gov. Bill Richardson.

Mitchell is CEO and owner of Las Cruces Machine, Manufacturing and Engineering.

She has a master’s of business administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a bachelor’s degree from Adams State College.

Mitchell, after Martinez was elected in 2010, served on a search committee that recommended candidates to serve as cabinet secretaries of the Higher Education Department and Public Education Department.

Mitchell’s appointment is subject to confirmation by the state Senate.