If all goes according to plan, UNM’s Board of Regents will have two new members.
On Tuesday, Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Lt. Gen. Bradley Hosmer and reappointed Regent Vice President Jack Fortner to serve on the board. Martinez also appointed Jacob Wellman on Monday to serve as student regent.
“I look forward to the opportunity to work with the new regents, as well as those who are already serving, to reinforce and maintain a standard of high expectations,” Martinez said in a statement.
If approved by the New Mexico Senate, Hosmer and Fortner will serve six-year terms.
UNM President David Schmidly said Fortner has been committed to students’ success.
“He brings a great perspective from the citizens of New Mexico on what this state needs from its flagship university,” he said.
Fortner was appointed in 1999 by former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson. He is a senior partner at the law firm Fortner & Dalley LLC in Farmington. He graduated from UNM with a bachelor’s in political science in 1978.
Fortner serves as chair on the Regents’ Health Sciences Committee. He also served on the Regents’ Academic, Student Affairs and Research committee.
Faculty Senate President Richard Wood said his organization looks forward to continuing to work with Fortner.
“UNM Faculty have worked constructively with Regent Fortner during his years on the board,” he said.
Fortner gave Martinez’s gubernatorial campaign more than $50,000. He and Martinez’s office denied his reappointment had anything to do with his campaign contributions.
If Hosmer, from Cedar Crest, is confirmed, he will replace Regent President Raymond G. Sanchez, whose term expired in December.
The 73-year-old Hosmer was the 12th superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy from 1991-94. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, the College of Naval Command and Staff and the National War College. He has been a member of the East Mountain High School Governing Council since 2009.
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Schmidly congratulated Hosmer in a phone conversation. He said he looks forward to beginning a working relationship.
Wood said the faculty are also looking forward to working with Hosmer, though he’s disappointed that faculty leadership weren’t involved in Martinez’s selection process.
“Because Governor Martinez has chosen to make these appointments without consultation with the elected faculty leaders, we are less familiar with Lt. General Hosmer’s record, or his qualifications as a regent,” Wood said. “He certainly brings an impressive record of military service, and his service as superintendent of the Air Force Academy should give him real insight into higher education. His challenge will be translating that expertise into the rather different setting of a flagship research university — and one with a better basketball team.”
Wood and other faculty leaders around the state encouraged Martinez to uphold an executive order from former-Gov. Bill Richardson that would allow faculty members input in the governor’s regent selection process. However, Martinez opted to select regents without the faculty’s feedback.
Martinez said that the appointments are vital to help the universities progress.
“It is important that our universities and my administration uphold a strong working relationship in order to ensure the best possible education for New Mexico’s students,” she said.
