100 Notable alumni of
University of New Mexico
Updated:
The University of New Mexico is 315th in the world, 132nd in North America, and 125th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of New Mexico sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Eddie Guerrero
- Occupations
- professional wrestler
- Biography
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Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), along with his appearances in Mexico and Japan. A prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero, and brother of Chavo Guerrero Sr., Mando Guerrero, Héctor Guerrero and father of Shaul Guerrero. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time.
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Steve-O
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Studied in 1996-1997
- Occupations
- YouTubertelevision actortelevision producerskateboarderclown
- Biography
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Stephen Gilchrist Glover, known professionally as Steve-O, is an American stunt performer, comedian, television personality, and podcaster. He rose to fame in the early 2000s as a cast member of the MTV reality comedy series Jackass, which showcased dangerous stunts and pranks and led to a successful film franchise.
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Penny Marshall
- Occupations
- dancercomedianstunt performervoice actorfilm director
- Biography
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Carole Penny Marshall was an American actress, film director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.
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Holly Holm
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Studied in 2000-2001
- Occupations
- boxerkickboxermixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Holly Rene Holm is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. She previously competed in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a former Women's Bantamweight Champion.
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Gary Johnson
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Gary Earl Johnson is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He has been a member of the Libertarian Party since 2011 and was the party's nominee in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. He was also the Libertarian nominee in the 2018 U.S. Senate election in New Mexico.
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Rockmond Dunbar
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Rockmond Dunbar is an American actor, best known for his roles as Baines on the NBC series Earth 2, Kenny Chadway on Showtime family drama Soul Food, and Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin on the Fox crime drama Prison Break. He also played Sheriff Eli Roosevelt on the FX Drama series Sons of Anarchy, FBI Agent Dennis Abbott on The Mentalist, FBI Agent Abe Gaines in the Hulu series The Path, and Michael Grant on 9-1-1.
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Adrienne Maloof
- Occupations
- presenterbusinesspersonfilm producerreality television participant
- Biography
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Adrienne Maloof is an American businesswoman, television personality, shoe designer, and co-owner of the various business holdings of Maloof Companies, which include a stake in the Vegas Golden Knights (NHL), The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada; Maloof Productions, Maloof Music and the retired Maloof Money Cup skateboarding event.
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Chris Henchy
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorfilm produceractortelevision producer
- Biography
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Christopher Thomas Henchy is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for being a creative collaborator with Will Ferrell, including co-creating the website Funny or Die and writing several Ferrell films, including Land of the Lost, The Other Guys and The Campaign.
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Brian Urlacher
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Brian Urlacher is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, earning consensus All-American honors and winning MW Player of the Year in 1999. He was selected ninth overall by the Bears in the 2000 NFL draft.
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Deb Haaland
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- 1988-1994 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English studies
- Occupations
- civil servantbusiness executivebusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Debra Anne Haaland is an American politician who served as the 54th United States secretary of the interior from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and was chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017. Haaland, a Native American, is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe.
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Hank Baskett
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Henry Randall Baskett III is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and Indianapolis Colts.
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Luc Longley
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Lucien James Longley AM is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. He most notably played for the Chicago Bulls, with whom he won three championships from 1996 to 1998. Longley represented Australia as a player at three Olympic Games in 1988, 1992 and 2000; he has worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national basketball team.
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Donald Gibb
- Occupations
- basketball playertelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Donald Richard Gibb is an American actor, best known for his roles as the hulking, dimwitted fraternity brother Ogre in several installments of the Revenge of the Nerds film series, as Kumite fighter Ray Jackson in Bloodsport, and as Leslie "Dr. Death" Krunchner on the HBO sitcom 1st & Ten.
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Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- 1977-1981 graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- lawyerbusiness executivepolitician
- Biography
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Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 32nd governor of New Mexico since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Lujan Grisham previously served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2013 to 2019.
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Danny Granger
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Danny Granger Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 2005 after a two-year college stint at New Mexico. In 2009, Granger averaged 26 points per game on 45 percent shooting and was named an All-Star and the league's Most Improved Player. An injury to his left knee limited Granger to just five games during the 2012–13 season, and in February 2014, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. He went on to play for the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat before having short stints with the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons in 2015.
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Michael Cooper
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coachscreenwriter
- Biography
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Michael Jerome Cooper, nicknamed "Coop", is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning five NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era. He was an eight-time selection to the NBA All-Defensive Team, including five times on the first team. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. Cooper was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. The Lakers retired his No. 21 jersey in 2025.
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Robert Mercer
- Occupations
- computer scientistbankerhedge fund managerentrepreneur
- Biography
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Robert Leroy Mercer is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and political donor. Mercer was an early artificial intelligence researcher and developer and is the former co-CEO of the hedge fund company Renaissance Technologies.
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Lang Ping
- Occupations
- volleyball playervolleyball coachbeach volleyball player
- Biography
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"Jenny" Lang Ping is a Chinese former volleyball player and coach. She is the former head coach of the Chinese women's national volleyball team and U.S. women's national volleyball team. As a player, Lang won the most valuable player award in women's volleyball at the 1984 Olympics.
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Martin Heinrich
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Studied in 2001-2002
- Occupations
- business executiveengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Martin Trevor Heinrich is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Mexico, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Heinrich served as the U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2009 to 2013. He and fellow senator Ben Ray Luján are the co-deans of New Mexico's congressional delegation.
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Ben Ray Luján
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Studied in 1990-1995
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ben Ray Luján is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from New Mexico since 2021. He served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2021 and as assistant speaker from 2019 to 2021. He served as a member of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission from 2005 to 2008, where he also served as chairman. He and Senator Martin Heinrich are the co-deans of New Mexico's congressional delegation. Luján is a self-described progressive Democrat.
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Michael Blake
- Occupations
- writernovelistnon-fiction writerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Michael Lennox Blake was an American author, best known for the film adaptation of his novel Dances With Wolves, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Daniel Abraham
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writernovelistproducer
- Biography
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Daniel James Abraham, pen names M. L. N. Hanover and James S. A. Corey, is an American novelist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin fantasy series, and with Ty Franck, as the co-author of The Expanse science fiction series, written under the joint pseudonym James S. A. Corey. The series has been adapted into the television series The Expanse (2015–2022), with both Abraham and Franck serving as writers and producers on the show. He also contributed to Wild Cards anthology series shared universe.
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Josh Kerr
- Occupations
- athletics competitormiddle-distance runner
- Biography
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Josh Kerr is a Scottish middle-distance runner who competes primarily in the 1500 metres. He won a gold medal in the event at the 2023 World Championships, a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships. He is also the 2024 World Indoor champion in the 3000 metres. Kerr holds the world best time in the short track 2 mile, and the British record in the outdoor 1500 metres and mile.
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Victoria Price
- Occupations
- writerbiographer
- Biography
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Mary Victoria Price is an American public speaker and the author of the memoir, The Way of Being Lost: A Road Trip to My Truest Self and Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography. She currently spends much of her time traveling and speaking about the life of her father, Vincent Price, as well as discussing self-development topics.
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Kim Stanley
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Kim Stanley was an American actress who was primarily active in television and theatre but also had occasional film performances.
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Agnes Martin
- Occupations
- painterdraftspersonprintmaker
- Biography
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Agnes Bernice Martin RCA was a Canadian-American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Saskatchewan, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. Martin's artistic journey began in New York City, where she immersed herself in modern art and developed a deep interest in abstraction. Despite often being labeled a minimalist, she identified more with abstract expressionism. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion, inwardness and silence."
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Joel-Peter Witkin
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- photographerartist
- Biography
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Joel-Peter Witkin is an American photographer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work often deals with themes such as death, corpses (and sometimes dismembered portions thereof), often featuring ornately decorated photographic models, including people with dwarfism, transgender and intersex persons, as well as people living with a range of physical features. Witkin is often praised for presenting these figures in poses which celebrate and honor their physiques in an elevated, artistic manner. Witkin's complex tableaux vivants often recall religious episodes or classical paintings.
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Milton Rubenfeld
- Occupations
- aircraft pilotmilitary personnel
- Biography
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Milton Rubenfeld was an American pilot who flew for the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army during World War II, later becoming one of the five founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It is widely believed that Rubenfeld, the other four volunteer pilots, and the other machalniks changed the course of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He was injured and returned to the United States, and settled in New York state, where he married and owned a local business with his wife, Judy. Later, he moved his family to Sarasota, Florida, where he and his wife owned another successful business until he retired. He died in 2004. He was the father of actor/comedian Paul Reubens, who was known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.
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Joy Harjo
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- In 1976 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in poetry
- Occupations
- musicianchildren's writerteacherclimate activistpoet
- Biography
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Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms (after Robert Pinsky). Harjo is a seventh-generation Monahwee daughter (also known as "Menawa"). Additionally, Harjo is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation (Este Mvskokvlke) and belongs to Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). She is an important figure in the second wave of the literary Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, completed her undergraduate degree at University of New Mexico in 1976, and earned an MFA degree at the University of Iowa in its creative writing program.
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Lois Duncan
- Occupations
- screenwriternovelistwriterjournalistchildren's writer
- Biography
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Lois Duncan Steinmetz, known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in the development of young-adult fiction, particularly in the genres of horror, thriller, and suspense.
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Vincent Barrett Price
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Vincent Barrett Price is an American poet, human rights and environmental columnist, editor, reporter, publisher, and teacher. His most recent works include the poetry volumes Orpheus the Healer, Lucretius and the Logic of Venus, Polishing the Mountain, or Catching Balance Just in Time: Selected Poems 2008–2020, Innocence Regained: Christmas Poems, and Memoirs of the World in Ten Fragments, and the nonfiction book The Orphaned Land: New Mexico's Environment Since the Manhattan Project. He is the co-founder, with Benito Aragon, of the New Mexico Mercury, an online platform featuring news, commentary and analysis from a variety of experts and writers around New Mexico. Since January 2017, the Mercury Messenger has featured Price's online column of politics and the environment.
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Pete Domenici
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Studied in 1954
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the Senate, making him the longest-tenured U.S. Senator in the state's history. To date, Domenici is the last Republican to be elected to the Senate from New Mexico. He was succeeded by Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Udall.
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Jose Garcia Villa
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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José García Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is known to have introduced the "reversed consonance rhyme scheme" in writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation marks—especially commas, which made him known as the Comma Poet. He used the pen name Doveglion (derived from "Dove, Eagle, Lion"), based on the characters he derived from his own works. These animals were also explored by another poet, E. E. Cummings, in "Doveglion, Adventures in Value", a poem dedicated to Villa.
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N. Scott Momaday
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- In 1958 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English
- Occupations
- scholar of Englishuniversity teachernovelistwriterpoet
- Biography
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Navarre Scotte Momaday was a Kiowa and American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native American Renaissance.
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Mikki Padilla
- Occupations
- modeltelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mikki Padilla is an American actress, model, writer and author. She has since filmed several projects, commercials, and her book, Been There, Done That... now doing MORE! was released in March 2013. She was the co-host and dealer of the GSN game show Catch 21 from 2008 to 2011.
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John Lewis
- Occupations
- film score composercomposerrecord produceruniversity teacherpianist
- Biography
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John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist, composer and arranger, best known as the founder and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
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Mel Daniels
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Melvin Joe Daniels was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association for the New York Nets. One of the greatest players in ABA history, Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA Champion and a seven-time ABA All-Star. Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997, he was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team. Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Mitch Garver
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Mitchell Lynn Garver is an American professional baseball catcher and designated hitter in the Seattle Mariners organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and the Mariners. Garver made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2017 and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2019. The Twins traded him to the Rangers in 2022, and he won the 2023 World Series with them. That December, he signed with the Mariners.
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Leslie Marmon Silko
- Occupations
- writerpoetnovelistessayist
- Biography
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Leslie Marmon Silko is an American writer. A woman of Laguna Pueblo descent, she is one of the key figures in the First Wave of what literary critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance.
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Cameron Bairstow
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Cameron David Bairstow is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of New Mexico before being drafted 49th overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. He spent two seasons with the Bulls before playing five of next six years in the National Basketball League (NBL).
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Rocky Long
- Occupations
- head coachCanadian football playerAmerican football playerAmerican football coach
- Biography
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Roderick John Long Jr. is an American college football coach and former player currently working as a defensive analyst at Fort Lewis College. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Syracuse and New Mexico. He was a head coach at New Mexico and then San Diego State. He played professionally with BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Detroit Wheels of World Football League (WFL).
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Glover Quin
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Glover Freeman Quin Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, and was selected by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft. Quinn stayed in Houston for four seasons. He then also played for the Detroit Lions for six seasons.
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Jack Dongarra
- Occupations
- computer scientistengineeruniversity teachermathematician
- Biography
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Jack Joseph Dongarra FRS is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Tennessee. He holds the position Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor and teacher in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. He served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (2014–2018). Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. He was the recipient of the Turing Award in 2021.
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Rudolfo Anaya
- Occupations
- university teachernovelistwriterchildren's writerauthor
- Biography
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Rudolfo Anaya was an American author. Noted for his 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya was considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano and New Mexican literature. The themes and cultural references of the novel, which were uncommon at the time of its publication, had a lasting impression on fellow Latino writers. It was subsequently adapted into a film and an opera.
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Jerry McNerney
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- In 1973 graduated with Bachelor of Science
- In 1975 graduated with Master of Science
- In 1981 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- business executiveengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Gerald Mark McNerney is an American businessman and politician who has served as member of the California State Senate from the 5th district since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes all of San Joaquin County and the Tri-Valley area of Alameda County. He previously served as the U.S. representative from California's 9th congressional district, based in Stockton, from 2007 until 2023.
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Cissy King
- Occupations
- singerdancertelevision actor
- Biography
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Cissy King is an American-born dancer and choreographer best known as a featured performer on The Lawrence Welk Show television program. Her dance team partner on the series was Bobby Burgess.
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N. Ahmed
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
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Nasir Ahmed is an American electrical engineer and computer scientist. He is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of New Mexico (UNM). He is best known for inventing the discrete cosine transform (DCT) in the early 1970s. The DCT is the most widely used data compression transformation, the basis for most digital media standards (image, video and audio) and commonly used in digital signal processing. He also described the discrete sine transform (DST), which is related to the DCT.
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Rebecca Roanhorse
- Occupations
- novelistshort story writerlawyerwriterjurist
- Biography
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Rebecca Roanhorse is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico. She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo and other indigenous American characters. Her work has received Hugo and Nebula awards, among others.
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Benjamin Radford
- Occupations
- authorpodcasterjournalist
- Biography
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Benjamin Radford is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urban legends, unexplained mysteries, the paranormal, critical thinking, mass hysteria, and media literacy. His book, Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment, was published in the summer of 2014 and is a scientific investigation of famous legends and folklore in the state of New Mexico. In 2016 Radford published Bad Clowns, a 2017 IPPY bronze award winner, and he is regarded as an expert on the bad clowns phenomenon.
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Robert Creeley
- Occupations
- university teacherpoetwriter
- Biography
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Robert White Creeley was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn.
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Jennifer Carroll
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary officer
- Biography
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Jennifer Sandra Carroll is an American Republican politician and retired naval officer who served as the 18th lieutenant governor of Florida from January 4, 2011 to March 12, 2013. Carroll is the first black person, woman and Trinidadian-American elected to the office. Carroll previously served as a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives. She is the bestselling author of an autobiography entitled When You Get There.
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Walter Jon Williams
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- novelistcomics writerwriterscience fiction writerrole-playing game designer
- Biography
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Walter Jon Williams is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, Privateers and Gentlemen (1981–1984), a series of historical novels set during the Age of Sail.
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Alex Kirk
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Alex Ryan Kirk is an American-born Japanese professional basketball player for the Ryukyu Golden Kings of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of New Mexico.
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E. J. Peaker
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Edra Jean Peaker is an American actress. Peaker is best known for her appearances in the movie Hello, Dolly! and in the TV musical series That's Life.
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Tony Snell
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Tony Rena Snell Jr. is an American professional basketball player for Boulazac Basket Dordogne of the French Betclic Élite. He played college basketball for the New Mexico Lobos. He was drafted with the 20th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. He is also the first NBA player to be publicly diagnosed with autism.
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Anne Hillerman
- Years
- 1949-.. (age 77)
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Anne Hillerman is an American journalist from New Mexico, and a New York Times best-selling author. The daughter of novelist Tony Hillerman, she has continued her father's series of Joe Leaphorn-Jim Chee novels following his death, adding officer Bernadette Manuelito as a full partner in solving the crimes.
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Halim El-Dabh
- Occupations
- composerpianistethnomusicologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had a career spanning six decades. He is particularly known as an early pioneer of electronic music. In 1944 he composed one of the earliest known works of tape music, or musique concrète. From the late 1950s to early 1960s he produced influential work at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
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Bruce King
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bruce King was an American businessman and politician who for three non-consecutive four-year terms was the governor of New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the longest-serving governor in New Mexico history, with 12 years of service.
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Shirley M. Hufstedler
- Occupations
- university teacherlawyerjudge
- Biography
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Shirley Ann Mount Hufstedler was an American attorney and judge who served as the first United States secretary of education from 1979 to 1981. She previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1968 to 1979.
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Michael A. Nielsen
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 52)
- Occupations
- academictheoretical physicistphysicistprogrammer
- Biography
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Michael Aaron Nielsen is an Australian-American quantum physicist, science writer, and computer programming researcher living in San Francisco.
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Courtney Frerichs
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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Courtney Frerichs is an American middle-distance runner and steeplechase specialist from Nixa, Missouri, She is a three-time silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase capturing silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the 2017 World Championships in London and at the 2018 World (Continental) Cup in Ostrava. In 2021, she became the first American woman to run under nine-minutes in a women’s 3000-meters steeplechase event with a time of 8:57.77; establishing an American and Area record. She is a two-time Olympian making the US team in 2016 and 2020. In both of her Olympic Trials she finished second to US National Champion, Emma Coburn.
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Kenny Thomas
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Kenneth Cornelius Thomas is an American former professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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Melinda M. Snodgrass
- Occupations
- science fiction writerscreenwriterjuristwriternovelist
- Biography
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Melinda Marilyn Snodgrass is an American science fiction writer for print and television. In February 2021 Snodgrass was the Screenwriting Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 39th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.
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Hugh Greenwood
- Occupations
- basketball playerAustralian rules football player
- Biography
-
Hugh Greenwood is an Australian former sportsman who played Australian rules football and basketball. Greenwood was a promising under-16 footballer, but opted to attempt a career in basketball in 2008, moving to the United States in 2011 to play college basketball for the University of New Mexico. He returned to Australia in 2015 and joined the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League, but abruptly switched codes to sign with the Adelaide Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) as a category B rookie in September 2015. He moved to the Gold Coast Suns in 2019 and then North Melbourne Football Club in 2022. He retired from the AFL in August 2024 after 121 senior games across the Crows, Suns and Kangaroos.
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Gerald Curtis
- Occupations
- political scientistprofessor
- Biography
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Gerald L. Curtis is an American academic and political scientist interested in comparative politics, Japanese politics, and U.S.-Japan relations.
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Aaron Herrera
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Aaron Joseph Herrera is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Born in the United States, he represents the Guatemala national team.
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Kevin Meyer
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kevin Gerald Meyer is an American politician who served as the 14th lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2018 to 2022. He was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from January 20, 2009 to December 3, 2018, representing District M. He was president of the Alaska Senate, leading a caucus of 14 Republicans and 1 Democrat from 2015 to 2017. Meyer served in the Alaska Legislature continuously from 2003 to 2018, in both the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate, previously representing the district when it was District O. He works as an investment recovery coordinator for ConocoPhillips.
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Weini Kelati
- Occupations
- long-distance runnerathletics competitor
- Biography
-
Weini Kelati Frezghi is an American middle and long distance runner. Born in Eritrea, she claimed asylum in the United States in July 2014. While attending Heritage High School in Leesburg, Virginia, she won several state and national level competitions in track and cross country. At the University of New Mexico, Kelati won the 2019 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
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Antoine Predock
- Occupations
- interior designerdesignerlandscape architectarchitect
- Biography
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Antoine Samuel Predock was an American architect based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was the principal of Antoine Predock Architect PC, the studio he founded in 1967.
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Diane Dimond
- Occupations
- biographerwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Diane Dimond is an American investigative journalist, author, syndicated columnist, and TV commentator.
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Luis González
- Years
- 1995-.. (age 31)
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Luis Fernando González is a Mexican professional baseball outfielder for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played college baseball at the University of New Mexico. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, and made his MLB debut with them in 2020. He has also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants.
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James Oberg
- Occupations
- authorengineerjournalist
- Biography
-
James Edward Oberg is an American space journalist and historian, regarded as an expert on the Russian and Chinese space programs. He had a 22-year career as a space engineer in NASA specializing in orbital rendezvous. Oberg is an author of ten books and more than a thousand articles on space flight. He has provided multiple explanations of UFO phenomena for media outlets. He is also a consultant in spaceflight operations and safety.
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Kelly Graves
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
-
Kelly Lee Graves is the current head women's basketball coach at the University of Oregon. Previously, Graves was the head women's basketball coach at St. Mary's from 1997 to 2000, as well as Gonzaga University from 2000 to 2014. He was formerly an assistant coach for the Portland Pilots (1994–1997) and St. Mary Gaels, where he later got his first head coaching stint with the Gaels from 1997 to 2000. From the 2004–05 season to the 2013–14 season, he guided Gonzaga to ten consecutive West Coast Conference regular season titles. The 2007 team went 13–1 in conference play, and later won the WCC conference tournament. The school also received its first ever NCAA tournament appearance. He was named WCC co-coach of the year for his accomplishments. In 2005, 2010, and 2011, Gonzaga went undefeated in WCC regular season play.
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Erika Sánchez
- Years
- 1984-.. (age 42)
- Occupations
- writerpoetessayistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Erika L. Sánchez is an American poet and writer. She is the author of poetry collection Lessons on Expulsion, a young adult novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir. She was a professor at DePaul University.
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Richard J. Berry
- Occupations
- economistbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
-
Richard James Berry is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 29th mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is also a former two term member of the New Mexico House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party, and, as of 2025, is the last Republican Mayor of Albuquerque.
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Oniel Fisher
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
-
Oniel David Fisher is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a right-back and midfielder for the Jamaica national team.
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Henry A. Crumpton
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in political science
- Occupations
- chief executive officerintelligence officernon-fiction writer
- Biography
-
Henry "Hank" Alva Crumpton is an American retired Central Intelligence Agency operations officer, who served as deputy director of the Counterterrorism Center and as head of the CIA's National Resources Division, which focuses on operations in the United States. In the early days of the invasion of Afghanistan, Crumpton led CTC Special Operations paramilitary forces in pursuit of the Taliban and al-Qaeda following the September 11 attacks. Crumpton also planned a larger incursion alongside others like Greg Vogle and Chris Wood. He was later appointed by President George W. Bush as Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State with the rank of Ambassador-at-large on August 2, 2005. He is an author and co-founder, chairman, and CEO of the business intelligence and political risk firm Crumpton Global LLC.
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Jerry Apodaca
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Jerry Apodaca was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 24th governor of New Mexico from 1975 to 1979 and chair of the president's council on physical fitness and sports from 1978 to 1980.
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Maggie Toulouse Oliver
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Maggie Toulouse Oliver is an American politician from the state of New Mexico. She is the 26th Secretary of State of New Mexico and a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Toulouse Oliver was the county clerk for Bernalillo County. On April 24, 2019, Toulouse Oliver declared her candidacy for the 2020 U.S. Senate election, but she later withdrew.
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Jun Ye
- Enrolled in the University of New Mexico
- Graduated with Master of Science in physics
- Occupations
- university teacherresearcherphysicist
- Biography
-
Jun Ye is a Chinese-American physicist at JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Colorado Boulder, working primarily in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics.
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Davar Ardalan
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Iran Davar Ardalan is an AI strategist and storyteller with a career spanning Booz Allen, National Geographic, NPR, and the White House Presidential Innovation Fellowship program. She has led significant research on large language models and risk mitigation, and led AI integration and digital transformation initiatives across sectors. In September 2025, she was named one of Project Voice's Voice AI 100, recognizing one hundred individuals who made significant contributions to conversational AI in the previous decade.
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Martin Chávez
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Martin Joseph "Marty" Chávez is an American politician, businessman, and attorney who served as a member of the New Mexico Senate from 1987 to 1993 and as the 26th and 28th mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He served as the Executive Director of ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA. and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Center for Green Schools at U.S. Green Building Council. In 2012, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the Congressional seat being vacated by Martin Heinrich, who retired from the House to run for Senate.
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Wafaa Bilal
- Occupations
- conceptual artistvideo artistartistvideo installation artist
- Biography
-
Dr. Wafaa Bilal is an Iraqi American artist, a former professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently an art professor at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He is a Creative Capital Award winner in 2021 for his project In a Grain of Wheat: Cultivating Hybrid Futures in Ancient Seed DNA and named one of Foreign Policy magazine's Leading 100 Global Thinkers in 2016 for his work as an advocate. Bilal's work, Canto III, was included as part of the Iranian pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Bilal's current work 168:01 brings awareness to cultural destruction and promotes the collective healing process through education and audience participation. He is best known for his work, Domestic Tension, a performance piece in which he lived in a gallery for a month and was shot by paintballs remotely by internet users watching from a webcam and for his book, Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life, and Resistance under the Gun, based on that performance, which details the horrors of living in a conflict zone and growing up under Saddam Hussein's regime. He holds a BFA from the University of New Mexico, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and was conferred an honorary Ph.D. from DePauw University.
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Shohini Ghose
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 52)
- Occupations
- astrophysicistphysicistscientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Shohini Ghose is a quantum physicist and Professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has served as the president of the Canadian Association of Physicists, co-editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Physics, and the Director of the Laurier Centre for Women in Science. She was named a 2014 TED Fellow and a 2018 TED Senior Fellow. In 2019 she appeared on the Star TV show TED Talks India Nayi Baat hosted by Shah Rukh Khan. In 2017 she was elected to the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Her book Clues to the Cosmos was released in India in December 2019. In 2020, she was selected as an NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering.
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Simon J. Ortiz
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writer
- Biography
-
Simon J. Ortiz is a Native American writer, poet, and enrolled member of the Pueblo of Acoma. Ortiz is one of the key figures in the second wave of what has been called the Native American Renaissance.
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Thomas Madden
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Thomas Francis Madden is an American historian, a former chair of the history department at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
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Ola Mildred Rexroat
- Occupations
- aircraft pilot
- Biography
-
Ola Mildred Rexroat was the only Native American woman to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
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Darington Hobson
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Darington O'Neal Hobson is an American professional basketball player for Botafogo of the Novo Basquete Brasil. He played college basketball for the New Mexico Lobos.
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Fred Begay
- Years
- 1932-2013 (aged 81)
- Occupations
- nuclear physicist
- Biography
-
Fred Begay, also Fred Young or Clever Fox, was a Navajo/Ute nuclear physicist. Begay was born in Towaoc, Colorado on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation. His work was in the alternative use of laser, electron and ion beams to heat thermonuclear plasmas for use as alternative energy sources.
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Leon Silver
- Occupations
- geologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Leon Theodore "Lee" Silver was an American geologist who was professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He was an instructor to the Apollo 13, 15, 16, and 17 astronaut crews. Working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), he taught astronauts how to perform field geology, essentially creating lunar field geology as a new discipline. His training is credited with a significant improvement in the J-Mission Apollo flights' scientific returns. After the Apollo program, he became a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1974. He retired in 1996 as the W. M. Keck Foundation Professor for Resource Geology, emeritus, at Caltech.
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Diane Denish
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Diane Daniels Denish is an American politician, who was the 28th lieutenant governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011 under Governor Bill Richardson. Denish was the first woman to hold that post.
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Kathy Lueders
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
-
Kathryn Lueders is an American engineer and business manager. Lueders has led NASA's human spaceflight program as the Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate. She became the first woman to head human spaceflight. She was the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and oversaw the return of human spaceflight capabilities to NASA. She worked at SpaceX as Starbase General Manager from May 2023 until her retirement in May 2025.
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William I. Robinson
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- university teachersociologist
- Biography
-
William I. Robinson is an American professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His work focuses on political economy, globalization, Latin America and historical materialism. He is a member of the International Parliamentary and Civil Society Mission to Investigate the Political Transition in Iraq.
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Jhurell Pressley
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
-
Jhurell Pressley is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos and was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He was also a member of the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Arizona Hotshots, DC Defenders, and IBM Big Blue.
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Thomas L. Brown II
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
-
Thomas Lee Brown II was a United States Navy officer and the first Navy officer to command Special Operations Command South, based in Homestead Joint Air Reserve Base, Florida.
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Jordan Pacheco
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Jordan Patrick Pacheco is an American former professional baseball infielder and catcher who is a hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cincinnati Reds.
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Niko Hansen
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
-
Nikolaj Hansen is a Danish retired footballer who played as a winger or forward. He previously appeared at the semi-professional level for Seattle Sounders FC U-23 and professionally with Columbus Crew SC, Houston Dynamo, Minnesota United and San Antonio FC.
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Michael McGarrity
- Years
- 1939-.. (age 87)
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
-
Michael McGarrity is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime novels set in New Mexico and the American West trilogy, historical novels also set in New Mexico consisting of Hard Country, Backlands and The Last Ranch. As deputy sheriff of Santa Fe County he founded their sex crimes unit.
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Edwin L. Mechem
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgepolitician
- Biography
-
Edwin Leard Mechem was an American attorney, politician, and jurist from New Mexico. He served as the 15th, 17th, and 19th governor of New Mexico, the first person born in the 20th century to become the state's governor, as well as the first person born in New Mexico after statehood to ascend to the office. During his final term as governor, Mechem appointed himself as a United States Senator, pursuant to the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. During his tenure, he was one of five non-Southern Republicans in the Senate to vote against the Civil Rights Act 1964. He was defeated in his bid to keep his senate seat in the 1964 United States Senate election in New Mexico. He later served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.
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Charles Smith
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Charles Cornelius Smith is an American former professional basketball player. He was the Alphonso Ford Trophy winner and an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2005.
