Spotlight: Kathy & Garrey Carruthers

An initial gift of $500,000 was given by Garrey E. Carruthers, dean of the business college and vice provost for economic development, and his wife, Katherine, to establish the Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development.

The funding from the chair may be used to augment the salary of the faculty member holding the chair and other professional expenses necessary to support associated academic activities and related programs. The chair holder will be selected at a later date. Although the chair will be in the business college it will be associated with NMSU's Arrowhead Center Inc., which provides support and guidance to innovators who want to turn their ideas into profit. The center, which will partner with New Mexico laboratories and other institutions of higher learning, will help create jobs, enhance student education, recruit and retain faculty, and connect ideas with capital.

"I think it's extremely important that if you have had some success in your life as a result of having received a fine education at a university, that you return some of that to the university," Carruthers said. "Kathy and I have been fortunate in business and I have to attribute part of that fortune to the fact that I attended New Mexico State as well as Iowa State University."

In addition, Katherine T. Carruthers said they have strong ties to the university. "Most of our children and their spouses graduated from New Mexico State, and this is where my husband and I met," she said.

"It is opportune that we can name the chair because of the focus NMSU will now have on economic and community development," he said. "My new responsibilities as vice provost for economic development will require that we enhance our capacity for assisting companies, communities and the state in creating and maintaining high-quality, wealth-creating jobs. The chair holder will be the 'go-to academic' for many of the research and educational programs needed to meet this challenge."

"Dr. Carruthers has demonstrated again what a true commitment to NMSU means," said President Michael V. Martin. "He has served this institution and higher education in New Mexico in so many ways. This gift is yet another indication that he will leave a permanent and positive legacy for all who benefit from NMSU."