By Vanessa Dabovich
Las Cruces, NM – NMSU will soon be home to the Bobby Lee Lawrence Academy of Wine. A gift of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was given to the university by Lawrence's wife, Marion.
Lawrence was known as the "Southwest Wine Guy" who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and the Culinary Institute of America. He also wrote about wine for Sabroso magazine and had his own wine blog.
The beverage laboratory will help NMSU expand its wine education courses and provide additional space for classes. The funds will go towards adding a curved bar, tables, wine chillers and additional study space.
Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Director Janet Green says it will be a cutting-edge environment to educate students and better train future hospitality professionals.
With the new beverage laboratory the HRTM department will have completed more than one million dollars in classroom improvements in the past few years.