Message from the UNM President

From the UNM President

As we near the end of 2020, it is safe to say that we have all been challenged in ways we could not have imagined as the season was starting to turn last spring. The global pandemic has tested our economy, our health care systems and, at times, our sense of optimism and purpose. It has also revealed strengths Photo: Jodi Newton we never thought we had, spurred incredible invention and brought people closer — albeit at a safe distance or reduced to the size of a Zoom window. The University of New Mexico responded to the crisis with a whirl of scientific research, driving toward a treatment and vaccine against this novel coronavirus, Garnett S. Stokes as our hospitals opened their doors to COVID-19 patients from neighboring states and the Navajo Nation. Meanwhile, our faculty, staff and students all pivoted to different learning models and worked to reopen campus in the Fall semester on a safe, hybrid in-person and online system informed by science, adhering to the highest health and safety protocols, and at all times ensuring that the health and safety of our Lobo community remained our top priority. You, as a supporter of UNM, are a vital part of that community. Your dedication to our mission and generous financial support help us offer a first-class education; provide cutting-edge research, as the state’s only R1 institution, in fields as diverse as anthropology and engineering, history and pharmacy; and offer New Mexicans the best and most compassionate patient care at our clinics and hospitals. In these uncertain economic times, your generosity has never been more important. To see the enthusiasm with which you have responded to UNM’s Changing Worlds 2020: The Campaign for UNM fundraising campaign makes me prouder than ever to count myself as a member of the Lobo pack. More than 77,000 of you responded to the call and our campaign raised more than $1.16 billion — a record-breaking amount. In this last fiscal year alone, despite COVID, you committed more than $94 million to UNM. I am truly inspired by your support and, on behalf of the entire UNM community, sincerely thankful for your generosity. As we enter 2021 tested by and united in the unprecedented events of 2020, let’s stand together in our resolve to ensure UNM continues to engage, inspire, motivate and lead.

GARNETT S. STOKES PRESIDENT The University of New Mexico