Alumni successes

Robert Doyle '12

In 2023, NMSU Chief Privacy Officer Robert Doyle accepted a new role at the SkillsUSA State Leadership Skills Conference. He served as the tech chair for the cybersecurity event at the New Mexico SLSC in Albuquerque in April 2023.

Nationally, SkillsUSA includes nearly 340,000 student and teacher members from 50 states and three U.S. territories. Through the program, students learn the personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics that help them succeed at work and in life.

“Through SkillsUSA, our students have the opportunity to develop career readiness that industry demands while achieving a sense of accomplishment and belonging,” says Doyle, who also serves as a Doña Ana Community College faculty member.

The competitions are all created and judged by industry partners, so students work to meet standards set by their future employers. State champions will advance and compete at SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta in June 2023.

Minerva Baumann ’13

Erica Nikolaisen '10 '12

Erica Nikolaisen was selected as a fellow for the 2022-2023 United States-Association of Southeast Asian Nations University Connections Initiative. Nikolaisen, the NMSU Education Abroad program manager, was one of 25 fellows nationally selected for this honor.

In partnership with the Association of International Education Administrators, this fellowship connects leaders from colleges and universities and ASEAN. In February 2023, Nikolaisen attended the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit at the AIEA conference in Washington, D.C.

“I was really excited to receive this fellowship because it provided a new opportunity for me to engage on behalf of NMSU with colleagues from institutions in the ASEAN region,” Nikolaisen says. “Not many institutions in the ASEAN region know about New Mexico State University, our unique position on the U.S./Mexico border, and NMSU’s strengths in academic and research. Participating in this opportunity allowed me to learn how I can create new study abroad opportunities for NMSU students as well as develop joint grant proposals while increasing NMSU’s visibility in the region.”

The University Connections Initiative was announced in May 2022 at the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit to re-affirm the nation’s commitment to Southeast Asia and emphasize the importance of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation in ensuring security, prosperity and respect for human rights.

Tiffany Acosta

Cindy Schlenker-Davies '09

Following a home economics career that spanned more than four decades, Cindy Schlenker-Davies was inducted into the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Hall of Fame in 2022.

She spent 16 years as the Family and Consumer Sciences agent and program director for the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service Bernalillo County office in Albuquerque. Schlenker-Davies retired from NMSU in 2021, but continues to do grant and contract work.

“I was really surprised and honored my NMSU FCS colleagues nominated me and more surprised to be one of two nationally to be inducted to the Hall of Fame for NEAFCS,” she says.

“I have so enjoyed my career where I really could help families,” says Schlenker-Davies, who is known for her expertise in food preservation. “Teaching cooking skills, nutrition, parenting and family finance to young moms and others who need these skills has been very rewarding.”

Schlenker-Davies joined NEAFCS in 2007, and she served in various state leadership roles, including president, president-elect, past president, vice president of member resources and professional development, and national leadership roles, including the western region director and vice president of member resources.

Tiffany Acosta