Innovate ABQ names leadership team, expands board
Last Friday the UNM Board of Regents voted to expand the board of Innovate ABQ from seven to 11 members, according to a UNM press release. The board also elected its leadership team.
New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union President and CEO Terry Laudick will serve as the chair, with PNM Resources President and CEO Patricia Vincent-Collawn as vice chair. Charles I. Wellborn, former president of STC.UNM, will be the secretary/treasurer.
Innovate ABQ is the proposed innovation hub and small business incubator created by UNM with the goal of bringing together members of the community, local government and small businesses in an effort to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs in Albuquerque and New Mexico.
“We believe the Innovate ABQ officers are an impressive reflection of the type of leadership needed to make this venture a success,” Regent President Jack Fortner said in a press release. “The private sector knowledge and business acumen of these board members will guide the critical thinking and creative edge which are so important in developing this entrepreneurial enterprise.”
The UNM Board of Regents will be in charge of selecting the remaining board members, and according to UNM they expect to fill the rest of the seats by the end of the year.
Legislative interim committees prepare for session
Committees have started meeting in preparation for the 2015 legislative session in Santa Fe. A major issue will be the Educational Retirement Board, which reported to the Investment and Pension Oversight committee that its funded ratio is up from 60 percent to 63 percent, and the unfunded liability has decreased from $6.7 billion to $6.3 billion, according to a press release.
The Public Employees Retirement Association, a separate pension entity, is predicting it will have full pension funding for retiring employees by 2031.
The Legislative Education Study Committee recently heard from UNM stakeholders about projects related to the Hispanic Education Act. UNM Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Jozi De Leon reported on the Unidos Project along with project director Jennifer Gomez-Chavez. This is one of 13 programs on Latino education issues being funded by the Lumina Foundation, according to the press release.
Assistant Research Professor Meriah Heredia-Griego from the UNM Center for Education Policy Research, among others, spoke about data mining and analysis and how to track progress while paying special attention to New Mexico’s context, according to the press release.
Gallery hosts Extragalactic art show
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The Tamarind Gallery is now hosting Extragalactic, an exhibition of more than 20 works related to the sky, universe and extraterrestrials. The exhibition is on view in the Tamarind Gallery through Dec. 19 with public hours Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Maxwell Museum hosts El Agua es Vida: Acequias in New Mexico
Acequias have been channeling water and sustaining life in New Mexico for more than 400 years. Hand-crafted, gravity-fed ditches and the cultural landscape that surrounds them are the subjects of an ambitious new exhibition at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. El Agua es Vida: Acequias in New Mexico merges art, science and cultural tradition to explore the fundamental role acequias play in the environment and the community in northern New Mexico.
The Maxwell is free and open to all Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Student film festival in sub-SUB theater
Open to all UNM students, the all-LOBO film festival showcases the talent the school has to offer. The festival will be held on Saturday at the ASUNM Southwest Film Center in the SUB basement. The show will run from 6 to 8 p.m., and tickets are $5.
UNM Composers Concerts to be held Friday
Free concerts featuring original works by UNM composers will occur Friday from 7:30 p.m. in B-117, and Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Keller Hall, both located in the Center for the Arts, the same building as Popejoy Hall.
The concerts include new music for acoustic and electronic instruments composed by both graduate and undergraduate students. Each program also features performances by several different improvising ensembles made up of the composers. Both shows are free.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/unmcompositionstudio.
~ Compiled by Jonathan Baca
