Gov. Susana Martinez Nominates Heidi Overton as Student Regent

New Mex­ico Gov­er­nor Susana Mar­tinez has nom­i­nated sec­ond year med­ical stu­dent Heidi N. Over­ton to replace Stu­dent Regent Jake Well­man, whose term has expired. Overton’s name will be sub­mit­ted by the governor’s office to the New Mex­ico Leg­is­la­ture dur­ing its upcom­ing ses­sion for confirmation.

Over­ton entered UNM as a Regent’s Scholar in the Uni­ver­sity Hon­ors Pro­gram and a stu­dent in the Com­bined BA/MD Degree Pro­gram. Over­ton grad­u­ated summa cum laude from UNM in May 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Health, Med­i­cine, and Human Values.

Upon enter­ing med­ical school in 2011, Over­ton was awarded the UNM School of Med­i­cine Com­bined BA/MD Degree Pro­gram Schol­ar­ship for Aca­d­e­mics. Before her appoint­ment, Over­ton served as a mem­ber of the Com­bined BA/MD Pro­gram Admis­sions Com­mit­tee and as the Trea­surer for the Health Sci­ences Stu­dent Council.

She received many awards as an under­grad­u­ate includ­ing the UNM Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Award, Uni­ver­sity Hon­ors Pro­gram Out­stand­ing Senior Award, Asso­ci­ated Stu­dents of UNM Out­stand­ing Sen­a­tor Award, and the Asso­ci­ated Stu­dents of UNM Exem­plary Ser­vice Award.

Over­ton grad­u­ated from Gallup High School as the class vale­dic­to­rian in 2007.

Media con­tact: Dianne Ander­son, (505) 277‑1807; email: danderson@unm.edu