62 Notable alumni of New Mexico State University
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
New Mexico State University is ranked #505 in the world and #159 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 62 notable alumni from New Mexico State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with New Mexico State University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Denise Stephens
astronomer
Denise C. Nuttall Stephens is an associate professor of astronomy in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University.
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2. Renee Schulte
1970-. (aged 56)
politician
Renee Schulte is a former American politician who was the Iowa State Representative for the 37th District.
3. Damond L. Williams
1980-. (aged 46)
basketball player
Damond L. Williams is an American former professional basketball player, author, and sports executive. Standing 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he played primarily as a combo guard, alternating between the point guard and shooting guard positions. Williams played collegiate basketball in the United States before beginning an international professional career that included competition in the Middle East and Asia....
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4. Fernando Ramsey
1965-. (aged 61)
baseball player
athletics competitor
Fernando David Ramsey Ramsey is a Panamanian former center fielder who played in Major League Baseball. Listed at 6' 1" (1.86 m), 175 lb. (79 k), Ramsey batted and threw right handed. He was born in Rainbow City, a section of the city of Colón in Panama.
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5. Elgin bryce holt
1873-1945 (aged 72)
geologist
Elgin Bryce Holt was an American geologist, mine owner and engineer, amateur scientist, anthropologist and entrepreneur who reorganized and managed the Cerro de Plata Mining Company in Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico.
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6. Patricia D. Lopez
computer scientist
Patricia Diane Lopez is an American computer scientist noted for her research on computer vision, image processing, and image enhancement. Her most notable work is her early efforts on neural networks, modeling human vision and imaging patents.
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7. Carrie Anderson
planetary scientist
Carrie Anderson is an American planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
8. Evan Lavender-Smith
1977-. (aged 49)
novelist
Evan Lavender-Smith is an American writer, editor, and professor.
9. Fabián García
1872-1948 (aged 76)
horticulturist
Fabián García was a Mexican-American horticulturist who has been described as "the father of the New Mexican food industry". Among other things, he helped to develop new varieties of chile peppers, pecans, and onions that are still grown in New Mexico. For example, in 1921, he introduced the "New Mexico No. 9", a strain of chile pepper which became the...
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10. Amy Simon-Miller
researcher
Amy Simon is an American planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, involved in several missions of the Solar System Exploration Program.
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11. David Coss
politician
David Coss is an American politician and civil servant who served as mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico from 2006 to 2014. He was elected to a four-year term in March 2006 after serving on the Santa Fe City Council from 2002 to 2006, representing the third district. He was elected to a second four-year term in March 2010.
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12. Clarence Moniba
1979-. (aged 47)
diplomat
Clarence K. Moniba is a Liberian politician, author and former actor. He served as the country's youngest Minister of State without Portfolio. He leads the Liberian National Union (LINU). In 2023, he ran for president in the 2023 Liberian presidential elections.
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13. Tshilidzi Kawata
1989-. (aged 37)
basketball player
Tshilidzi Kawata formerly known as Tshilidzi Nephaweis, is a South African-Japanese professional basketball player for the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the Japanese B.League.
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14. Tyrone Watson
1990-. (aged 36)
basketball player
Tyrone Watson is a Canadian former professional basketball player. He attended New Mexico State University, where he represented the Aggies, and has competed with the Canadian youth national team in the past. Following graduation, Watson played a season with the Halifax Rainmen in the NBL Canada and, following a suspension, returned to the league with the Orangeville A's.
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15. Ray Birmingham
1955-. (aged 71)
head coach
Raymond Joseph Birmingham Jr. is an American former college baseball coach. He was a baseball coach at the high school, junior college, and four-year college levels from 1978 to 1983 and 1988 to 2021, starting at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico from 1978 to 1983, then the College of the Southwest from 1988 to 1989, New Mexico...
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16. Kerry Locklin
1959-. (aged 67)
American football player
Kerry Barth Locklin is an American football coach.
17. Daniel Mullings
1991-. (aged 35)
basketball player
Daniel Walden-Mullings is a Canadian basketball player for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He played college basketball for New Mexico State.
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18. Winston Rose
1993-. (aged 33)
Canadian football player
American football player
Winston Rose is an American professional football defensive back. Rose won two Grey Cups with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played college football for the New Mexico State Aggies.
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19. Tony Wragge
1979-. (aged 47)
American football player
Tony James Wragge is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico State Aggies and was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent after the 2002 NFL draft.
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20. Sarah Stewart
1905-1976 (aged 71)
virologist
Sarah Elizabeth Stewart was a Mexican-American researcher who pioneered the field of viral oncology research, and the first to show that cancer-causing viruses can spread from animal to animal. She and Bernice Eddy co-discovered the first polyoma virus, and SE (Stewart–Eddy) polyoma virus is named after them.
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21. Ursula Wikström
1980-. (aged 46)
golfer
Ursula Wikström is a Finnish professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour. She represented Finland at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics and won the 2017 Ladies Finnish Open.
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22. Don W. Cleveland
1950-. (aged 76)
chemist
researcher
neurobiologist
Don W. Cleveland is an American cancer biologist and neurobiologist.
23. Michael L. Connor
1963-. (aged 63)
lawyer
Michael Lee Connor is an American politician, lawyer and engineer. He had served as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and served as the United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 2014 to 2017, among other positions in United States Department of the Interior.
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24. Earl Calloway
1983-. (aged 43)
basketball player
Earl Genard Calloway is an American-born naturalized Bulgarian professional basketball player for the Ottawa Blackjacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
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25. James Edward Wharton
1894-1944 (aged 50)
military personnel
Brigadier General James Edward Wharton was a career United States Army officer who briefly commanded the 28th Infantry Division in the Battle of Normandy before being killed in action during World War II.
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26. Lester Lyles
1946-. (aged 80)
entrepreneur
military officer
General Lester L. Lyles is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force (USAF). He served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. After retirement from the USAF in 2003, he became a company director for General Dynamics, DPL Inc., KBR, Inc., Precision...
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27. Tommy Sheppard
1969-. (aged 57)
sports executive
general manager
sporting director
Thomas F. Sheppard is an American basketball executive. A native of New Mexico, he attended New Mexico State University and played for their football team before graduating in 1991. Sheppard joined the public relations department of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Denver Nuggets in 1994. He later joined the NBA's Washington Wizards as an assistant executive under general manager Ernie...
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28. Wendell McKines
1988-. (aged 38)
basketball player
Wendell Stuart McKines is an American former professional basketball player. He is known for his moniker as Mr. Wensday.
29. Gary King
1954-. (aged 72)
lawyer
politician
Gary Kenneth King is an American lawyer, politician, and energy consultant who served as the 30th attorney general of New Mexico from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2015. King previously served as an advisor in the United States Department of Energy, a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, and the Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor in...
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30. Alena Sharp
1981-. (aged 45)
golfer
Alena Sharp is a Canadian professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. A graduate of New Mexico State University, where she played on the golf team, Sharp turned professional in 2003, playing two seasons on the Futures Tour and on other minor tours before joining the LPGA Tour in 2005.
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31. Kathy Lueders
engineer
Kathryn Lueders is an American engineer and business manager. Lueders has led NASA's human spaceflight program as the Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate. She became the first woman to head human spaceflight. She was the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and oversaw the return of human spaceflight capabilities to NASA. She worked...
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32. Sylvia Acevedo
businessperson
systems engineer
Sylvia Acevedo is an American engineer and businesswoman. She was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016 to 2020. A systems engineer by education, she began her career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was on the Voyager 2 team. She has held executive roles at Apple, Dell, and Autodesk. In 2018,...
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33. Javier Gonzales
1966-2022 (aged 56)
politician
Javier Gonzales was an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Santa Fe from 2014 to 2018. Gonzales was the city's first and only openly gay mayor. He held the office of Santa Fe County Commissioner, serving two terms. Soon after, he was elected as the first Hispanic president to the National Association of Counties. Upon assuming the...
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34. Charlie Criss
1948-. (aged 78)
basketball player
basketball coach
Charles Washington Criss Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
35. Larry Williams
saxophonist
music arranger
jazz musician
Lawrence Lowell Williams is an American record producer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient on the keyboards, saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Williams began his musical career in the 1970s, and has since established himself as a prominent figure in the music industry. He regularly toured and recorded with Al Jarreau for over 3 decades and also was a musician...
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36. Jimmy Collins
1946-2020 (aged 74)
basketball player
basketball coach
James Earl Collins was an American basketball player and coach. He was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, where he attended Corcoran High School. Collins was the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1996 to 2010, becoming the program's all-time winningest coach and leading UIC to its first-ever postseason appearances...
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37. Greg Lopez
1964-. (aged 62)
politician
Gregorio Beltran Lopez is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district from 2024 to 2025. From 2008 to 2014, he served as the Small Business Administration's Colorado director. He previously served as mayor of Parker, Colorado, and ran for Governor in 2018 and 2022. He was the Republican nominee for the 2024 special...
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38. Nick Gonzales
1999-. (aged 27)
baseball player
Nicholas Joseph Gonzales is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected seventh overall by the Pirates in the 2020 MLB draft and he made his MLB debut in 2023.
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39. Jason Huntley
1998-. (aged 28)
American football player
Jason Kiree Huntley is an American professional football running back. He played college football for the New Mexico State Aggies, and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft.
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40. Paul Weir
1979-. (aged 47)
basketball coach
Paul Michael Weir is the athletic director at Eastern New Mexico University. He is the former head men's basketball coach of the University of New Mexico, having been named head coach on April 11, 2017 as the successor to Craig Neal, his second head coaching position at the college level. Weir was also the head coach of New Mexico State...
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41. Cyrus Nowrasteh
1956-. (aged 70)
film producer
screenwriter
film director
Cyrus Nowrasteh is an American filmmaker. He has worked on numerous television series and made-for-TV movies including The Day Reagan Was Shot, Falcon Crest, Into the West, and the controversial docudrama The Path to 9/11. He has also directed the theatrical features The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009), The Young Messiah (2016), and Infidel (2020).
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42. Sam Lacey
1948-2014 (aged 66)
basketball player
Samuel Lacey was an American basketball player. He spent the majority of his career with the Royals/Kings franchise. Lacey was selected as an all-star while playing for the Kings in 1975, and eventually had his number 44 retired by them.
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43. Jemerrio Jones
1995-. (aged 31)
basketball player
Jemerrio Jones is an American professional basketball player for Rahoveci 029. He played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies.
44. Tony Sanchez
1974-. (aged 52)
American football player
Anthony Phillip Sanchez is an American college football coach and former wide receiver, who is the current head football coach at New Mexico State University, his alma mater. He was the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 2014 to 2019. Before that, he was the head football coach at Bishop Gorman High School in...
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45. Jonathan Gibson
1987-. (aged 39)
basketball player
Jonathan Mychal Gibson is an American professional basketball player for the Al-Ula of the Saudi Basketball League. He played college basketball for New Mexico State before playing professionally in Turkey, Israel, Italy, China and Iran. He made a name for himself in China, earning the league's scoring title in both the 2013–14 and the 2015–16 season, with 32.5 and 42...
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46. Alan Hale
1958-. (aged 68)
astronomer
Alan Hale is an American professional astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale–Bopp independently of its other co-discoverer, Thomas Bopp, an amateur astronomer.
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47. Alvy Ray Smith
1943-. (aged 83)
computer scientist
engineer
film director
screenwriter
Alvy Ray Smith III is an American computer scientist who co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and Pixar, participating in the 1980s and 1990s expansion of computer animation into feature film.
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48. David Bowdich
1969-. (aged 57)
police officer
David Bowdich is an American former law enforcement officer serving since 2022 as Chief Security Officer of the Walt Disney Company. Prior, he served as the Deputy Director of the FBI from 2018 to 2021.
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49. Scott Bailey
1978-. (aged 48)
actor
television actor
Scott Bailey is an American actor. He is known for playing the character of Sandy Foster on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light, the character of Roman Martin on the MyNetworkTV limited-run serial Saints & Sinners and the character of Greg Cooper in an episode of the TV series Femme Fatales.
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50. Rich Beem
1970-. (aged 56)
golfer
Richard Michael Beem is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is best known for his upset victory at the 2002 PGA Championship.
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51. Roosevelt Skerrit
1972-. (aged 54)
politician
Roosevelt Skerrit is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and, most recently, as chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2010. Skerrit is currently...
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52. Pascal Siakam
1994-. (aged 32)
basketball player
Pascal Siakam is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, he won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Nicknamed "Spicy P", Siakam played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the...
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53. Jaron Lanier
1960-. (aged 66)
philosopher
university teacher
programmer
artificial intelligence researcher
essayist
Jaron Zepel Lanier is an American computer scientist, futurist, and composer. Considered a founder of the field of virtual reality, Lanier and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari in 1985 to found VPL Research, Inc., the first company to sell VR goggles and wired gloves. In the late 1990s, Lanier worked on applications for Internet2, and in the 2000s, he was...
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54. Sim Bhullar
1992-. (aged 34)
basketball player
Gursimrana Singh "Sim" Bhullar is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). He played college basketball for New Mexico State University and is the first player of Indian descent to play in the NBA. At 7'5", he also became the sixth-tallest player in NBA history, being tied with Chuck Nevitt...
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55. Ed Foreman
1933-2022 (aged 89)
motivational speaker
businessperson
civil engineer
politician
Edgar Franklin Foreman Jr. was an American businessman and politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served one term representing Texas's 16th congressional district from 1963 to 1965 and a second term from 1969 to 1971 representing New Mexico's 2nd district, then newly established. He is the most historically recent member of Congress to...
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56. Steve Pearce
1947-. (aged 79)
podcaster
businessperson
military officer
politician
Stevan Edward Pearce is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 2nd congressional district from 2003 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party and was his party's unsuccessful nominee in the 2008 U.S Senate election and the 2018 gubernatorial election.
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57. Howie Morales
1973-. (aged 53)
politician
Henry C. "Howie" Morales is an American politician and educator serving as the 30th lieutenant governor of New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the New Mexico State Senator from the 28th district, which includes Catron County, Grant County and Socorro County, from 2008 until 2019.
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58. John McEneny
1943-. (aged 83)
historian
politician
John "Jack" McEneny is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the New York State Assembly, representing about half of Albany County in the 104th Assembly District, from 1993 through 2012.
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59. Mark W. Spong
1952-. (aged 74)
roboticist
Mark W. Spong is an American roboticist. He is a professor of systems engineering and electrical and computer engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). He served as dean of the Jonsson School and the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair in Electrical Engineering from 2008 to 2017. Before he...
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60. Diego Pavia
2022-2024 (aged 2)
American football player
Diego Pavia is an American college football quarterback for the Vanderbilt Commodores. He previously played for the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos and New Mexico State Aggies.
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61. Denise Chavez
1948-. (aged 78)
novelist
Denise Elia Chávez is a Chicana author, playwright, and stage director. She has also taught classes at New Mexico State University. She is based in New Mexico.
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62. Daniel Johnson
1995-. (aged 31)
baseball player
Daniel Guy Johnson is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Southern constituency since 2016.
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