New Mexico State to start over in search for next president

LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State University is starting over in the search for its next president.

At its regular meeting on Monday, the school’s Board of Regents voted unanimously to launch a new search for the university system’s next leader.

“After careful consideration, I do not believe that any of the current finalists fully meet the needs of New Mexico State University at this critical juncture,” Ammu Devasthali, Board of Regents chair throughout the search process, said in a statement released by the school.

“Finding the right leader is paramount. While the presented candidates possess impressive qualifications and are assets to their respective institutions, we have yet to see the next leader of our university.”

Monday’s announcement comes just more than a month after NMSU had named five finalists for the job. They were: Michael Galyean, a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished professor in the Department of Veterinary Sciences at Texas Tech; Richard B. Williams, the former president of Utah Tech; Wayne E. Jones Jr., the provost and vice president for academic affairs and a chemistry professor at the University of New Hampshire; Austin A. Lane, the Southern Illinois University chancellor; and John Volin, the University of Maine’s executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Galyean (bachelor’s degree in agriculture) and Williams (Ph.D., curriculum and instruction) had earned degrees from New Mexico State.

Regents also voted to move forward with hiring a new interim president following the planned departure in June of Jay Gogue, who stepped into that role last April.

Gogue followed the departure of then-Chancellor Dan Arvizu, who presided over the university during a string of incidents that included a former Aggie basketball player shooting and killing a student at the University of New Mexico and a men’s basketball hazing incident that saw the team’s 2022-23 season come to an early end.

In her statement during the board meeting, Devasthali praised the work of the 24-person search committee chaired by retired NMSU Vice President for External Affairs Ben Woods and the diligence of the Board of Regents in evaluating the candidates.