Dear HEST Community,

Welcome to the fall 2024 issue of Pinnacle, which rounds up a very exciting and eventful past year here at the College of HEST.

I would first and foremost like to thank our former dean, Yoshi Iwasaki, for his leadership over the past two years. He made several significant, positive contributions to our college, and we hope to continue to build on the solid foundation we built.

I am honored to have been named the Interim Dean of the College of HEST. As Interim Dean, my primary goal is to set a strong foundation for the next permanent dean by continuing our strategic planning efforts aligned with NMSU LEADS 2025, advocating for our priorities to state legislators, improving budget and HR operations, and strengthening relationships with donors and alumni.

We’ve made great strides toward our commitment to “Learn-Engage-Transform!,” our new college slogan. This commitment was exemplified by our inaugural NMSU Learn-A-Palooza, which took place in spring 2024 and was attended by more than 3,000 children and their families. This family-friendly community engagement event provided a welcoming, inspirational space for children to enhance their curiosity in college options, career explorations and lifelong learning.

 The mission of the College of HEST is to pursue social change and transformation through education, research and outreach. Within the pages of this magazine, you’ll find just a few examples of the significant research our faculty and students are involved in, along with stories of the contributions our people and programs have made on the community at large. Social transformation is at the heart of why we do what we do – including promoting social change, economic mobility and social justice for the good of our society.

 In this issue, we have also provided a by-the-numbers glimpse of how our college has had an impact in educating students, as well as how much we’ve expanded our research through federal grants and national collaborations. Thanks to our Papen-Aprendamos Autism Diagnostic Center, we have also reached significant milestones in addressing the needs of children and adults in southern New Mexico. We have also highlighted the accomplishments of one of our outstanding alumni, Carol Smallwood, who is a member of NMSU’s 1888 Society and created the Smallwood Current Use Emergency Fund to support students in the Department of Public Health Sciences.

We hope you enjoy reading these stories, and we would love to hear about how your experience with the College of HEST as positively impacted you. I am eager to begin this new chapter with our college and to work alongside our outstanding community to continue advancing our mission and vision. Together, we can build on the solid foundation and achieve our shared goals.

Phillip Post

Interim dean, College of HEST