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Whenever John Cordova has a chance to speak to a group of students he is quick to point out how important his education at New Mexico State University has been to him. He also acknowledges that it took at least two years for him to find his niche at the university.
Cordova was born in Denver and grew up in Albuquerque. The oldest of four children, he played high school football at St. Pius X and came to NMSU on a football scholarship in 1976. He played offensive lineman for the Aggies for four years.
Enrolled in the College of Business with a major in management, John considers assistant dean Fred Downs and Frankie Clemons his two primary faculty mentors. Dr. Downs helped recruit him and was there to offer advice on the many choices he had to make during his days at State. “Ms. Clemons always had a smile and an encouraging word for the students,” he remembers.
Junior year was the turning point. “I was a full time starter for the Aggies and our team won the Missouri Valley Conference championship. My classes were working. This was where I belonged,” he says with a conviction that rings true after nearly three decades.
Cordova continued his graduate studies at NMSU. While earning an MBA he was able to work as a graduate assistant and coach football, which had long been a dream of his. Cordova met his wife Diane while they were students here. She attended NMSU on a scholarship and played basketball.
From his current position as Director, Sports Transactions with Coca-Cola in their national headquarters in Atlanta, GA, Cordova can see how all the pieces came together to contribute to the success he has enjoyed to date. Along the way, however, it might not have been that obvious.
After so many years involved with football, a job in the sports industry seemed appealing but in the early 1980s, it was just a cottage industry. He took Dr. Downs’ advice to “accept the best job you can get” and went to work in home computers at Texas Instruments, another industry that was just taking off.
The business of sports continued to fascinate him. A few years later he applied for and received an internship to work in the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball in New York City even though he took a pay cut in the process. Although that experience did not immediately lead to working with a major league team, he then moved into sports marketing, joining Miller Brewing in Milwaukee in 1984. In 1988 the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team was building a new stadium, selling suites and aggressively marketing the franchise and Cordova moved on to the team side to further his industry experience.
Cordova has been with Coca-Cola since 1994. He is a strong supporter of the College of Business and the faculty members who influenced him most during his student days. The college named him to their Hall of Fame in 2006.
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