James Gutierrez

Even the abridged version of his resumé is extraordinary and exemplifies how many worlds one graduate can impact:

Graduated as a Presidential Scholar from UNM when he was just 20 years old; degrees in communication and Spanish; ran the College Prep program; studied abroad in Spain; after graduating, spent a year working in Uganda, developed and directed the Four As of Africa Association, a non-profit addressing AIDS, adolescents, atrocities and animals; participated in summer program at Harvard Business School; served as director of operations for Verge Venture Capital; served as a liaison on the basketball management team at the Athens and Beijing Olympics; spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Uruguay; worked as an analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives; taught at a community college in the state; has travelled to 50 states and over 60 countries; currently working on graduate degrees in business and public policy at Harvard University and MIT.

“I’m a proud native New Mexican,” Gutierrez says, “and the UNM College of Arts and Sciences gave me so many opportunities, opened so many doors. The diverse education gives you the tools to go far. UNM is a big university, but it is very welcoming, and if you’re open to it, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish. I’ve visited more than 60 universities, and I can tell you that UNM and its people are unique. It changed my world, and my goal is to come back to teach here, and pay what I received forward.”

How many worlds, small and large, will UNM College of Arts and Sciences alumni transform, and will yours be one of them? With your vital support, the answers are “many” and “yes.”