The Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) is very pleased to announce that Senator (retired) Jeff Bingaman will be presenting a lecture entitled "Meeting the World's Energy and Climate Challenges" at the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) Global Resource Center Auditorium located at 12th and Kentucky on Friday April 24th 2015 at 5:30 PM. Refreshments will be served at 5:00 PM in the lobby area. Please join us for a most welcomed return of a native son to our community.
Due to limited seating, Free Tickets are required and available at:
Bayard Public Library, Silver City Public Library, Silver City Visitor's Center, Alotta Gelato, the WILL Office, and the WNMU One Day University event.
Senator Bingaman was born in El Paso, Texas and attended public schools in Silver City, New Mexico. He graduated from Harvard University in 1965 and then from Stanford Law School in 1968. In that year he was admitted to the State Bar of New Mexico.
Bingaman became an Assistant New Mexico Attorney General in 1969 and Counsel to the State Constitutional Convention in 1969. He entered private law practice in 1970. He served in the United States Army Reserve from 1968-1974. Senator Bingaman was elected Attorney General of New Mexico and served in that capacity from 1979-1982. During 1982, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and was reelected to the Senate by the people of New Mexico for thirty years. While in the Senate, Senator Bingaman was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He also sat as a member of the Armed Services Committee, the Finance Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In December 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from New Mexico State University and from the University of New Mexico.
In February 2011, he announced that he would not seek reelection for a sixth term in 2012. On his retirement, Senator Bingaman's tenure was the second longest in the United States Senate for New Mexico.