Kevin B. Boberg Excellence in Economic Development Award
The Kevin B. Boberg Excellence in Economic Development Award is presented annually by New Mexico State University to honor those who, like Kevin, have helped change the trajectory of NMSU’s economic development impact. Kevin Boberg spent more than 30 years serving NMSU, and was the idea man behind some of its most impactful economic development and community engagement projects – but you’d never have known it to talk to him. Always keen to defer attention to other collaborators and colleagues, Kevin seldom took credit for the impact he had on the university and its students.
About the Award
The Kevin B. Boberg Excellence in Economic Development Award is open to individuals and organizations with a connection to NMSU and a demonstrated impact on economic development in New Mexico and the region. Nominees should have a track record of collaboration with the university and community, and nominations should highlight how they are amplifying NMSU’s economic development impact through active partnerships and excellence in innovation.
Awardees will receive a $1,000 prize and other recognition opportunities.
Winners
The award’s inaugural winner, Jon Barela, was honored at the 2023 Fall Outreach Conference on Nov. 14 and 15, 2023, at the Las Cruces Convention Center. Read more.
Sponsors
New Mexico Border Industrial Association
About Dr. Boberg
Kevin B. Boberg, who passed away in March 2021 after a long illness, joined the faculty of NMSU’s College of Business in 1987, having previously taught at Penn State University and the University of Hawaii. He was soon named associate dean and director of the Bureau of Business Research and Services in the college.
Boberg helped launch Arrowhead Center, the university’s economic development and technology commercialization engine, along with former New Mexico Gov. Garrey Carruthers, who was named dean of NMSU’s College of Business and vice president for economic development in 2003, and Kathryn Hansen, who served as the organization’s first chief operating officer. Boberg led Arrowhead for years as director and CEO.
He was the first to hold the Garrey E. and Katherine T. Carruthers Chair in Economic Development in the College of Business, which was made possible by a gift of $500,000 from Carruthers and his wife, Katherine, and an additional $1 million in matching funds from the state.
One of the success stories that emerged out of Arrowhead Center’s many collaborations was the Early College High School – now called Arrowhead Park Early College High School – founded in 2010 on the NMSU campus. Developed through a community partnership between the public schools, business and economic development entities, and NMSU, the school aims to improve graduation rates and prepare students to enter the workforce ready to start a career in a STEM field or continue on a path to a bachelor’s degree.
Boberg assumed the role of NMSU’s vice president for economic development in 2013, when Carruthers was named president of the university. At that time, Kathryn Hansen took over as Arrowhead Center’s director and CEO, continuing to build on Boberg’s work.
Another project that Carruthers asked Boberg and Senior Vice President Ben Woods to spearhead was the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, a private medical school now located on NMSU’s campus. Boberg and Woods led a team effort to secure the partnership deal that brought the college to southern New Mexico, helping to address gaps in access to medical care in the state’s rural and underserved areas.
While he avoided taking personal credit for the work he did to benefit the community, he saw to it that the university received recognition for its work in community engagement, innovation and creating economic opportunities for New Mexico. In 2015, he led the successful efforts to earn the university both a Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University designation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Both prestigious designations are acknowledgments of the work that NMSU faculty, staff and programs do to benefit students, communities and the entire region, and Boberg was extremely proud to see the work of his colleagues recognized in this way.
Of all his roles at NMSU, though, Boberg found the greatest joy in his work with students, as a professor and a mentor. As a member of the Pete V. Domenici Institute Advisory Council at NMSU, Boberg was a mentor for the Domenici Public Policy Conference Student Panelist program and helped create the Domenici Scholars program. He guided students as they researched and prepared questions for prominent national public policy figures, and he helped create additional opportunities for them as they launched their careers.