UNM Rainforest Innovations

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From the Chair

Diverse, entrepreneurial and innovative are the defining characteristics of UNM Rainforest Innovations’ Board of Directors. Members of the Board are researchers, inventors, academics, administrators, business executives, lawyers and community leaders, with local, national and international ties. Our board guides UNM Rainforest Innovations in its mission to support the University of New Mexico and its partners as the source for innovation management and commercial development in strategic areas of service to the University:

  • Technology Transfer University-based economic development
  • Support of UNM faculty, staff, and student technology commercialization
  • Support for UNM research
  • Support for UNM education
  • Corporate Engagement
  • Income Generation

The UNM Rainforest Innovations Board of Directors oversees these strategic UNM Rainforest Innovations areas and applies specific expertise, drawn from our members’ backgrounds, as needed.

Sandra Begay
Chair, UNM Rainforest Innovations Board of Directors

Board Officers

Chair, UNMRI Board of Directors

Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories

Vice Chair, UNMRI Board of Directors

Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, UNM

Secretary and Treasurer, UNMRI Board of Directors

Executive Vice President & Deputy Laboratory Director, Sandia National Laboratories, Retired

CEO & Chief Economic Development Officer, UNMRI

Board Members

Executive Vice President of Finance and Lending, Nusenda Credit Union

Jeffery Michael Gorvetzian Endowed Professor of Biomedical Research Excellence, UNM School of Medicine

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, UNM

Vice President for Research, UNM

Principal, Fisher Leadership Strategy Execution

Retired Policy Analyst, Metropolitan Applied Research Center
Retired Consultant, Media Companies

Deputy Laboratories Director and Chief Operations Officer, Sandia National Laboratories

Dean & Professor, University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences 

President & CEO, Sandia Foundation

Founder, MLK Health and Wellness Community Development Corporation

President, Principal, Contract Associates, Inc.

CEO, Blue Stone Strategy Partners

President, Gregg L. Mayer & Co., Inc.

Co-Founder and Chairman, Quasar International, Inc., Retired

Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine
Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine
Co-Director, M.D./Ph.D. Program UNM School of Medicine, UNM HSC

Interim Vice President for Research and Research Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UNM Health Sciences

Interim Executive Vice President, UNM Health Sciences

Interim Chief Executive Officer, UNM Health Systems

Jim and Ellen King Dean of Engineering and Computing, UNM School of Engineering
Professor, UNM Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering

Former President/CEO, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce

Executive Officer, National Academy of Engineering

Chair, UNM Board of Regents
President & CEO, SRE Wellness, Inc. (dba Azuca)

President, The University of New Mexico

Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of New Mexico

Former President, Science & Technology Corporation @ UNM, Retired

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