Ken Van Winkle, associate dean of New Mexico State University’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been named interim president at NMSU Alamogordo, effective June 1. Garrey Carruthers, who serves as chancellor of the NMSU system, announced the appointmentWednesday morning.
“Ken Van Winkle is an excellent person to lead NMSU Alamogordo,” Carruthers said. “He has three decades of service, with progressive responsibility, at New Mexico State University. His family is also well known in the Alamogordo area. I’m confident he’ll do an outstanding job working with the faculty and staff at the college as well as the community.”
In February, NMSU Alamogordo President Cheri Jimeno announced her intention to retire this summer. At that time, the university began a search to find a new, permanent president to lead the campus. That search recently concluded without a new president being chosen. Another search will begin later this year.
“I’m excited for this opportunity,” Van Winkle said. “Alamogordo is my hometown; I grew up there. This is also my 30th year at NMSU and I think it’s an appropriate time to move to this new capacity. I’m looking forward to moving back to Alamogordo and developing new relationships with the community.”
Van Winkle has served as associate dean for strategic initiatives and assessment in the NMSU College of Arts and Sciences since 2010. There, his responsibilities included annual performance evaluations, assessment and academic program review. As an administrator, he has served as the academic department head for the NMSU Department of Music and acted as interim department head for Journalism and Mass Communications. He holds degrees from West Texas A&M University, the University of North Texas and the University of Oregon.
Van Winkle began his career at NMSU as the trumpet instructor and Jazz Ensemble director in 1985. He directed the NMSU Pride marching band in the late 1980s and again from 2000-2005. He became director of bands in 1994 and conducted Symphonic Winds, the university’s premier concert band, from 1992-2010.
Van Winkle completed two terms as the college vice president of the New Mexico Music Educators Association and is a past president of the organization. In 2003, he was selected as the New Mexico Music Educator of the Year and in 2005 he was inducted into the American Bandmaster’s Association.
At the College of Arts and Sciences, he chaired the J. Paul Taylor Social Justice Symposium, the College Diversity Committee, the College Awards Committee and the College Promotion Committee. He also organized the college’s Global Connections Lecture Series, the Three Minute Thesis competition and was director of the Arts and Sciences Student Ambassador Program.