Other past administrative positions have included Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Dean of Graduate Studies, and Dean of University College. Throughout his years as an administrator, Holder has taught Organic Chemistry to UNM undergraduates almost every semester. Holder will take a six month sabbatical and then return fulltime to the chemistry department in the Spring 2012 semester.
Holder received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Wyoming and began his academic career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chile teaching Organic Chemistry at the Universidad de Concepcion. After obtaining his Master of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale University, and after two years as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Vassar College, he joined the faculty ranks at UNM in 1974.
While on leave from UNM, Holder has served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, a Visiting Scientist at Indiana University, a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Bogota and Medellin, Colombia, and a National Science Foundation Program Director for Organic Chemical Dynamics.
In his current role as Deputy Provost, Holder manages faculty and staff personnel matters for the Office of the Provost and oversees Faculty Contracts, Faculty Dispute Resolution, Counseling and Referral Services, KUNM Radio Station, the Office of International Programs and Studies, the Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Spanish Colonial Research Institute, as well as the degree-granting programs in University College.
Provost Suzanne Ortega had the following remarks, "I want to express my most heartfelt thank you on behalf of the UNM community for Richard's exemplary service to the institution. His work of twenty-five years and with numerous Provosts is marked with the highest degree of distinction and integrity. I want to personally thank him for his selflessness, wonderful sense of humor, dedication to teaching, and to serving the best interests of UNM's talented students and faculty. It has been a tremendous privilege to work with him. I will miss him and I know he will be sorely missed by many in his role as Deputy Provost."
Media contact: Susan McKinsey (505) 277-1807; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu