UNM presidents who have paved a path

by Ashleigh Sanchez

Daily Lobo

David Schmidly will be inaugurated Sunday as UNM's president, the third in five years.

The previous 18 presidents shaped the University into what it is today.

Schmidly succeeds Louis Caldera, who resigned in January 2006 under pressure from the Board of Regents.

Elias Stover, the first president, headed the effort to build the University in the late 19th century.

UNM was established when New Mexico had no organized public school system, giving it a different purpose, said Terry Gugliotta, University historian.

"UNM basically started out as a prep school," she said.

It offered arithmetic, language, history and geography courses - what the University called "subpreparatory" classes.

Most of its 75 students were in high school.

Although UNM established college-level departments and programs in 1893, it continued to enroll high school students until after World War II.

The first classes were held in the summer of 1892, according to Miracle on the Mesa, a history of New Mexico written by former UNM President William "Bud" Davis.

Stover presented the first graduating class of six high school students with their diplomas in 1894.

In the beginning

Gugliotta said Stover was a temporary president and held the position while the University got on its feet.

Stover was unexperienced in education.

In 1894, the Board of Regents appointed a vice president, Hiram Hadley, who took charge of administrative duties.

Hadley had an extensive background in education and made changes to transform UNM into a higher-education institution, Davis wrote.

In August 1896, regents terminated the "subpreparatory" program, further continuing that change.

Stover resigned in 1897 after an altercation with Vice President Hadley, who had expelled Stover's son after he committed a prank involving explosives, Gugliotta said.

Stover condemned the expulsion and petitioned for Hadley's firing.

When the Board of Regents sided with Hadley, Stover left UNM.

A growing institution

When James Zimmerman took over the presidency in 1927, UNM was prepared to take more students than ever before.

Zimmerman recruited students extensively by contacting every superintendent in the state and by promoting UNM.

Gugliotta said he was one of the most influential presidents.

Zimmerman was responsible for major construction projects on campus, including Zimmerman Library and Scholes Hall.

He was president for 17 years until John Wernette took over in 1945.

For he's a jolly good fellow

The only president to serve longer than Zimmerman was Thomas Popejoy, who served from 1948 to 1968.

"Popejoy was beloved," Gugliotta said. "You can't find anyone to say anything bad about the man. Everyone loved him."

Popejoy was the first native New Mexican president, and he had bachelor's and master's degrees from UNM.

Under Popejoy's administration, UNM enrollment jumped from 4,495 in 1948 to more than 14,000 in 1968.

Popejoy started programs for nontraditional students and members of the community.

He also added specialty and technical programs to supplement general education.

He created the School of Nursing in 1955, the first of many professional schools to come.

Popejoy also encouraged sports at UNM and pushed for the construction of Johnson Gym and The Pit.

Popejoy wanted The Pit built underground to save on construction costs, and he made sure there were no interior support structures, Gugliotta said.

"He wanted every seat to have a view, so no pillars or anything," Gugliotta said. "He was so smart with money. He knew how important that was."

With The Pit came Lobomania, and the sports growth led to UNM winning 11 championships between 1960 and 1965.

Popejoy retired in 1968.

The modern UNM

Bill Gordon became president in 1998.

Gordon appointed Jack Fortner to the Board of Regents.

Fortner is the longest-standing regent on the board today.

"The office of the presidency is very demanding," Fortner said. "Bill knew what it took to be president, and he knew what UNM needed."

Under Gordon's leadership, UNM established freshman learning communities and offered its first online course.

Gordon had his hands full on Sept. 11, 2001, when professor Richard Berthold said, "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote," hours after the day's

terrorist attacks.

Gordon handled the enormous backlash from the incident by saying Berthold has the right to free speech.

However, the University reprimanded Berthold and did not allow him to teach freshman classes after the incident.

Gordon's successor, Chris Garcia, also understood New Mexico and the University, Fortner said.

"He had the respect of the Legislature as well," he said. "Lots of them had been his students."

Garcia was UNM's first Hispanic president in the University's 113-year history.

Unlike past presidents, Garcia took the position reluctantly and had no intention of being president for long, Gugliotta said.

During his one-year term in office, the Board of Regents looked for a new president.

A tainted presidency

The regents' search found Louis Caldera, who had a long rÇsumÇ of experience, including political positions in California and serving as the secretary of the Army under President Clinton.

Caldera was considered an "untraditional" choice for president when he was hired in 2003.

But Caldera's presidency was shorter than expected, and he resigned in January 2006 under pressure from the Board of Regents.

"He had a great record when he came to UNM," Fortner said. "But the transition was too much, too soon."

Caldera said he wanted to make UNM a better university.

"My main goal was to increase the reputation of the University," he said. "I tried to provide strong leadership and strengthen the (president's) office because it was weak when I got here."

Fortner said there were tensions between Caldera and key administrators.

"He was very bright," Fortner said. "I had a good relationship with him. It just wasn't a good fit for UNM."

Caldera now teaches at UNM's law school.

UNM paid Caldera's $293,000-a-year contract until it expired this year.

Filling in

After Caldera's resignation, David Harris was appointed interim president while a search went on.

"We asked him to stay the course, and he did more," Fortner said. "He continued to help UNM grow financially, athletically and academically."

Gugliotta said she includes Harris in the list of official presidents even though he wasn't sworn in.

"He was president for a long time, and he did a lot for the University during that time," she said.

Harris said his presidency was a great experience.

"It was the best year of my life," he said. "I really enjoyed it. My wife loved it."

He said he probably won't be UNM's president again, and his position as chief executive officer of UNM is a good fit.

"I've learned that you never say never, but I don't think that that's a possibility," he said. "We're really pleased to be working with David and Janet Schmidly. He's the kind of guy that can really move UNM forward."

Harris was acting president until June 2007 when Schmidly took over.

"The great thing Schmidly did was to see the team and what they - and Harris - could do," Fortner said. "For the first time, the president can teach the regents, and we can watch a great leader in President Schmidly."

Historical information for this story was based on Miracle on the Mesa and the University

Archives.