Public Lands Commissioner Receives Award of Excellence

Date:  July 24, 1997
Editor: D'Lyn Ford  (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu

LAS CRUCES -- Ray Powell, Jr., New Mexico's commissioner of public lands, was awarded the Fabian Garcia Founders Award of Excellence on July 25 in Las Cruces. The award is given by New Mexico State University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics in memory of its most celebrated graduate.

Powell received the award during a luncheon at the meeting of the Cooperative Extension Service Support Council. On hand at the ceremony were John Owens, NMSU interim executive vice president, and Jerry Schickedanz, the college's interim dean and chief administrative officer.

Powell has been New Mexico's public lands commissioner since 1993 and serves as vice president of the Western States Land Commissioners Association.

Powell's personal achievements and his support for the college and Extension were cited by Schickedanz as reasons for conferring the award, one of the college's most prestigious.

Powell has championed Extension as an important link to land stewards. He intervened on behalf of the agency in a face-to-face meeting with Vice President Al Gore, and drafted resolutions supporting Extension that were passed unanimously by the nation's land commissioners.

He testified before the National Research Council on behalf of Extension and has written in support of Extension to numerous public officials. He was presented the Epsilon Sigma Phi friend of Extension award in January 1996.

As a commissioner, Powell stressed preventing conflict by bringing together agricultural, environmental and mining interests to address issues.

The award's namesake, Fabian Garcia, was a member of NMSU's first graduating class in 1894. He was director of the university's Agricultural Experiment Station from 1913 to 1945, leaving a legacy that shaped much of New Mexico's agriculture. He is best known for fathering the Southwest food industry by developing the first commercially viable chile peppers.