Barbara Damron *

WICHE Chair, Professor and Senior Advisor to the Dean, University of New Mexico

Barbara Damron is currently a tenured professor and senior advisor to the Dean at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing. She also is a tenured professor at the UNM School of Medicine’s Department of Family & Community Medicine, and Senior Advisor to the Director for Project ECHO. Prior to that, she served as the Chief Government Relations Officer for the University of New Mexico. She was also New Mexico’s Cabinet Secretary of Higher Education for four years. 

On the national level, Damron has been a Congressional Fellow in the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP); an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; a Congressional Fellow for Senator Lamar Alexander; Commissioner of the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education (WICHE); Commissioner of the Education Commission of the States; and sits on the Board of Directors of Complete College America.

Damron’s long professional history spans over 35 years – 20 in New Mexico – including being a leader in education, a health care executive, an advanced practice nurse, a college professor, an international consultant, and a cancer scientist. She has built positive and extensive relationships within the state’s higher education community, as well as within the Legislative and Executive branches. She has also worked alongside community and state leaders on the promotion of civic engagement and was featured as a panelist at the Hispanic Leadership Institute’s (USHLI) “Latinas in Politics” forum previously at UNM.

Damron received a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, a Master of Science in nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Bill Soules

Senator, New Mexico State Legislature

Bill Soules was appointed to the WICHE Commission in May 2023. He was born and raised in the Mesilla Valley, and has been a lifelong advocate for the interests of students. He has served as a state senator since 2013, taught in the Las Cruces Public Schools for 16 years, and served as president of the New Mexico School Board Association and a member of the Las Cruces School Board. Soules serves as the senate representative to the New Mexico Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR), a statewide consortium expanding the state’s capacity to conduct scientific research and train a diverse, highly qualified STEM workforce.

Patricia Sullivan

Associate Dean, College of Engineering, New Mexico State University

Patricia Sullivan is the Associate Dean, of the College of Engineering at the New Mexico State University  where she directs statewide engineering outreach services under the college’s Engineering New Mexico Resource Network in areas including technical engineering business assistance, professional development, and educational outreach programs. She also provides direction for the college’s corporate relations and student career services. Sullivan is the New Mexico affiliate director for Project Lead the Way, a national program to expand the STEM pipeline. She is also a member of the board of directors for Enchantment Land Certified Development Company (a program that certifies SBA 504 loans in support of economic development). Sullivan received her Ph.D. in industrial engineering with a focus on renewable energy regulatory policy, a master’s degree in public utility economics, and a bachelor’s degree in biology, all from NMSU.

G. Andrés Romero

Representative, New Mexico State Legislature

Debra Sariñana

Representative, New Mexico Legislature

Bill Soules

Senator, New Mexico State Legislature

Bill Soules was appointed to the WICHE Commission in May 2023. He was born and raised in the Mesilla Valley, and has been a lifelong advocate for the interests of students. He has served as a state senator since 2013, taught in the Las Cruces Public Schools for 16 years, and served as president of the New Mexico School Board Association and a member of the Las Cruces School Board. Soules serves as the senate representative to the New Mexico Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR), a statewide consortium expanding the state’s capacity to conduct scientific research and train a diverse, highly qualified STEM workforce.