Garrey Edward Carruthers (born August 29, 1939) is an American politician and academic who served as the 27th

governor of New Mexico The governor of New Mexico () is the head of government of New Mexico. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New Mexico's state government and the commander-in-chief of the New Mexico National Guard. As noted in the govern ...

and the chancellor of

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

. He previously served as special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1974 to 1975, director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute at NMSU, state chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico from 1977 to 1979, and

United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

for Land and Resources from 1981 to 1984.

Early life and education

Carruthers was born in

Alamosa, Colorado Alamosa is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. Alamosa is located along the Rio Grande. The city population was 9,806 in the 2020 Unit ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in 1964 and Master's degree in agricultural economics in 1965, both from

. He then earned a PhD in economics in 1968 from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Career

Carruthers served as a

White House Fellow The White House Fellows program is a non-partisan fellowship established via Executive Order 11183 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. The fellowship is one of the United States' most prestigious programs for leadership and public se ...

at the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

from 1974-75. A Republican, he was elected the 27th governor of New Mexico in 1986. A major focal point of the race was reinstating the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, resulting in outgoing Democratic governor Toney Anaya commuting the sentences of all inmates on death row in protest. His term ended in 1991, and

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s at the time prevented New Mexico governors from seeking consecutive terms. Carruthers was succeeded by Democrat Bruce King, who had previously served two non-consecutive terms as governor. After leaving office, he served as founding president and CEO of the Cimarron Health Plan, now Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, Inc., from 1993 to 2003. In 2003, he was named dean of NMSU's College of Business. He helped establish NMSU's economic development operation, the Arrowhead Center, and served as the university's vice president for economic development. He also helped establish the Domenici Institute and serves as its director. In May 2013, he was appointed president of

by the Board of Regents in a 3-2 vote. In 2017, the Board of Regents announced that his contract would not be renewed, resulting in his retirement effective July 1, 2018. He was succeeded by John D. Floros, a food scientist and former dean of the

Kansas State University College of Agriculture The Kansas State University College of Agriculture offers 16 undergraduate majors, one undecided program, 15 minors, 5 certificates, and 18 graduate programs of study. Their subjects include agribusiness, bioscience, communications, economics, and ...

Views on science

Questioned by faculty at an on-campus meeting on his candidacy to become NMSU chancellor in 2013, Carruthers said that there was not a

scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...

, stating "I don't know. I'm an economist. I don't do global warming. It's a scientific judgment that I can't make." Concerns were also raised about his role in the

Advancement of Sound Science Center The Advancement of Sound Science Center (TASSC), formerly The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, was an industry-funded lobby group and crisis management vehicle, and was created in 1993 by Phillip Morris and APCO in response to a 1992 Uni ...

, a lobbying group that he chaired from 1993 to 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carruthers, Garrey 1939 births 20th-century New Mexico politicians Ford administration personnel Republican Party governors of New Mexico Iowa State University alumni Living people New Mexico State University alumni Nixon administration personnel People from Alamosa, Colorado Presidents of New Mexico State University Reagan administration personnel State political party chairs of New Mexico United States Assistant Secretaries of the Interior United States Department of Agriculture officials White House Fellows