Monica Torres named interim president of NMSU

New Mexico State University regents tapped Monica Torres, chancellor of the university’s community colleges, as its second consecutive interim president Thursday, with the prospect of leading the university until 2025.

The leadership shift comes during an extended search for the land-grant institution’s next leader.

Torres succeeds Jay Gogue, a former NMSU president who returned to the university’s leadership last April following the departure of Chancellor Dan Arvizu. She will take her new position officially on May 1. Gogue will remain on the job until May 10 to assist the transition, as noted by regent chair Ammu Devasthali.

The regents discussed the selection of the interim president in closed session for just under 55 minutes during a special meeting Thursday morning that took place by video conference. The five board members then resumed open session to vote unanimously to appoint Torres for a term of six months or until the next president is in place.

Torres has a career in higher education spanning four decades, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NMSU and a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of New Mexico. She served as president of Doña Ana Community College beginning in 2018 and was later appointed chancellor of the system’s community colleges.

Torres thanked the regents following their vote. “I have a long history with the New Mexico State University system,” she said. “I have a deep commitment to the land grant mission and to our status as a (Hispanic-serving institution) and a (minority-serving institution). I love that we cover the state of New Mexico and offer services and instruction across the state to New Mexicans.”

Before the meeting adjourned, Devasthali addressed the president search process moving forward.

In February, five candidates were selected as finalists for the job and proceeded to visit campus for public forums and interviews with the regents. Then, in a surprise development, on March 11 the regents announced it would not hire any of them and would resume the search with new candidates.

“We plan to move quickly, considering that a lot of the groundwork has already been completed,” Devasthali said Thursday, announcing that the new search would begin in April with a plan to have finalists visit campus during August, with the next president in place in January for the spring 2025 semester.

In a continuing shakeup of the administration, Provost Alan Shoho retired in March after less  than a year on the job. Lakshmi Reddi, the dean of NMSU’s College of Engineering, immediately succeeded him as interim provost.