When Nancy Brown Martinez and Baker Morrow began their careers at The University of New Mexico, Gerald Ford was president and a little company named Apple was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Each year UNM recognizes outstanding faculty and staff with more than 15 years of service at the annual service awards event. However, like last year, this year’s celebration was hindered by the pandemic. Among the honorees, there are many stories to tell regarding the tremendous impact those individuals have had in the success of our institution and our students. Martinez and Morrow are just two honorees with 45 years of service at UNM.
Nancy Brown Martinez, College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences
Nancy Brown Martinez graduated with a bachelor’s degree in History and Spanish in 1970 and a master’s degree in Teaching Social Sciences from the UW-Eau Claire in 1975. Soon after she came to New Mexico and has loved the state ever since.
Martinez began at UNM in Library Acquisitions, moving to the "New Mexico Historical Review" where she was office manager until 1991. UNM allowed Martinez the opportunity to seek her post master’s classes in Southwest Studies. She also met her husband at the New Mexico State Fair while selling back issues of the "New Mexico Historical Review" in the Spanish Village.
In 1993, she joined the team at the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections with Zimmerman Library as the Southwest reference coordinator. In 2001, the UNM Center for Regional Studies funded her training at the National Archive’s Modern Archives Institute in Washington, D.C.
“It was one of the most memorable times in my life,” she said.
Today, Martinez still processes archival collections, provides class instruction, organizes exhibits and programs, and writes publicity stories about CSWR.
“I believe UNM is a good place to work and grow. I have a great job, use my education and find satisfaction in helping people,” Martinez said.
Baker H. Morrow, School of Architecture and Planning
Baker Morrow was already the owner of a successful landscape architecture firm when he was hired to teach a seminar on landscape architecture in spring 1975. He has been teaching part-time ever since.
Morrow graduated from Highland High School in 1964, and earned his bachelor’s in the summer of 1968 from UNM. He served in the Peace Corps in Somalia from 1968 to 1969; when he returned to Albuquerque and founded his company, Morrow Reardon Wilkinson Miller, Ltd. He later received his master’s degree in 1997.
In June 2000, Morrow became the founding director of the School of Architecture and Planning Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree, the only one of its kind in the state.
“We now have hundreds of graduates, and they are licensed and working in New Mexico and all across the country and the world," Morrow said. "They’re great people doing fine and innovative work and I’m very proud of them all."
Morrow’s university experience and private practice have allowed him the opportunity to write about and study many fascinating topics, including long-term studies of New Mexico’s historic landscapes and is the author of a series of books including, "Best Plants for New Mexico Gardens and Landscapes" and "A Harvest of Reluctant Souls." He is also the series editor for a new line of books for UNM Press, "New Century Gardens" and "Landscapes of the American Southwest Series."
“I’m a third-generation New Mexican, a descendant of homesteaders. Many members of my family have also been teachers, given to thinking they had a responsibility to be helpful to their fellow citizens,” Morrow said. “It’s from them, I think, that I began to understand when I was younger that discovering and following your own interests in life is all well and good, but it’s an even better idea to make sure that you do what you can to lift other people in the process.”
40 Years of Service Honorees
Kevin Cahill, Physics Astronomy Department
Yolanda Martinez, History Department
Ross Sutter, University Library & Learning Sciences
Frances Wilkinson, University Libraries & Learning Sciences
Virginia Williams, Comprehensive Cancer Center, NM Tumor Registry
Lori Wood, UNM Medical Group Patient Accounts
35 Years of Service Honorees
Geraldine Carrillo, HSC Clinic Administration
Mabel Chave, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Leanna Fernando, UNM CCC Center for HPV Prevention
Charles Fleddermann, School of Engineering
Kathryn Gadomski, HSC Pediatrics Endocrinology
William Gannon, Graduate Studies
Dolores Garcia, HSC Family Community Medicine
Sutero Garcia, Facilities Management
Paul Hutton, History Department
Michael Kamins, KNME Operations
Joseph Lane, College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences
Diane Marshall, College of Arts & Sciences
Ken Martinez, Civil Engineering
Sandra Ortiz, Physics Astronomy
Edward Padilla, College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences
Ronald Petranovich, Facilities Management- Gallup Branch
Lawrence Roybal, ENLACE New Mexico
Robert Tepper, Anderson School of Management Department of Accounting
Chris Vallejos, Institutional Support Services
Faculty and staff with 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 years of service totaled 647 honorees this year with 13,060 years of combined service. Each service award honoree received an award in the mail along with a special catalog to select a recognition gift.