Ammu Devasthali

Chair

Term Expires: December 31, 2028

Ammu Devasthali is a longtime artist, painter and philanthropist who has called Las Cruces home for more than 30 years. Originally from India, she and her husband, Rama, a physician, came to the United States in 1981 and lived in Chicago before relocating to Las Cruces in 1987.

As an undergraduate, she studied Russian language at Nehru University in New Delhi, earning a bachelor’s degree. Later, she attended Moscow State University in Russia and earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Soviet literature.

While raising her family in Las Cruces, Devasthali began taking art classes at New Mexico State University. At first, she only took a couple of classes “here and there,” she said. But eventually, she had accumulated enough credits to earn a Master of Arts in printmaking from NMSU’s Department of Art. She later earned a second MFA in painting.

Soon after, Devasthali opened her own art studio, Art Ventures, in Las Cruces, giving artists a space to work and create. She then started a jewelry business, Designs by Ammu, which she operated for a number of years. At this time, she become involved in nonprofit work.

For more than 13 years, she served as a board member for the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, having served as president for two years and secretary for four years. During her time at the community foundation, she helped establish a women’s fund, Springboard, which aims to improve the lives of women in southern New Mexico through scholarships that provide opportunities for advanced education.

Devasthali and her family have raised funds for many projects and scholarships in the southern New Mexico region. She spearheaded efforts to raise private funds to help build the ASNMSU Center for Performing Arts and NMSU’s new visual arts facility, Devasthali Hall.

Ammu and Rama have been married for 42 years and have two children, a daughter, Vidusha, who is an NMSU alumnae, and a son, Vikram, who graduated from University of Southern California.

Regent Devasthali serves as the chair of the Regents Audit and Risk Committee, member of the Regents Real Estate Committee, Position Director for Arrowhead Center Incorporated, and the Board of Regents liaison to NMSU Foundation.

Christopher Saucedo

Vice Chair

Term Expires: December 31, 2026

Christopher T. Saucedo grew up in Doña Ana County, graduated from Gadsden High School, earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from New Mexico State University, and obtained his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. He now practices law throughout New Mexico and West Texas specializing in commercial litigation, employment law, and complex civil litigation.

In addition to previously serving on the NMSU Board of Regents from 2018 - 2019, he also served on the inaugural Citizens Redistricting Committee for New Mexico. He considers election law to be his professional hobby and has previously served as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Election Law for the American Bar Association. For 8 years he served as President of the Board of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, a center dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities. He is Past President of the Albuquerque Bar Association and a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association. He is the proud father of two and husband of over 23 years to his wife, Leslie.

Regent Saucedo serves as the chair of the Regents Student Success Committee, is a member of Honorary Degree Selection Committee, and represents the NMSU Board of Regents on the New Mexico Higher Education Regent Coalition.

Garrett Moseley

Secretary/Treasurer

Term Expires: December 31, 2024

Garrett Moseley is a native of New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a graduate of Valley High School. Moseley is set to graduate from NMSU in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Criminal Justice. Upon his graduation he will pursue a Master of Business Administration and will graduate in summer 2025.

While attending NMSU he has been heavily involved in the Associated Students of New Mexico State University. As a junior he served as a senator for the college of Arts & Sciences. During his time as senator, he advocated for increased lighting on campus, expansion of library hours, and served in the senate finance committee. In April 2022, he was elected as ASNMSU Student Body President. As President he oversaw a staff of over 45 students and a $750,000 operating budget. Moseley spearheaded a renovation of the James B. Delamater Activity Center. He secured a $4.3 million dollar appropriation from the NMSU Student Fee Revenue Bond. Alongside the ASNMSU Governmental Affairs team, he lobbied for additional funding at the New Mexico legislative session. During his tenure he led a philanthropy initiative that united the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, University of Texas El Paso Student Government Association, and the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico to raise money for migrant assistance. As President he worked alongside the ASNMSU Senate to appropriate over $70,000 to the ASNMSU Emergency Funding Account, which provides wrap around services for at risk students. Moseley worked with the NMSU Foundation to lay down the framework for a $250,000 emergency funding endowment which will provide annual funding for the ASNMSU Emergency funding account.

Regent Moseley serves on the Regents Student Success Committee, Regents Financial Strategies, Performance and Budget Committee, and serves as Position Director for Arrowhead Center Incorporated.

Dina Chacón-Reitzel

Member

Term Expires: December 31, 2024

Dina Chacón-Reitzel is a native of northern New Mexico, hailing from Cebolla in Rio Arriba County, where she grew up on her family’s cow-calf ranch, Pinãvetal Ranch. She is a graduate of Española High School and now resides in Albuquerque.

Seeking a “kinder, gentler” college experience that would give her a high-quality education with “personal attention,” she turned to New Mexico State University, where she received two degrees. In 1978, she earned a Bachelor of Science in home economics in business from what was then called the College of Agriculture and Home Economics. In 1983, she earned a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and management from the College of Business.

Chacón-Reitzel started her career as a home economist for NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service, serving for six years in Eddy County and Las Cruces. In 1989, she became the executive director of the New Mexico Beef Council, the marketing, research and education arm of the beef industry in New Mexico.

Throughout her esteemed career, she has maintained close ties to NMSU. For 30 years, she has worked to implement educational programs with the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service and 4-H youth development. Since 2003, she has served as the NMSU delegate to the Council for Agricultural Research Extension and Teaching. In this role, she advocates for federal funding for NMSU and other land-grant universities across the country. Chacón-Reitzel was also a recipient of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996.

Among her other professional accomplishments and accolades, Chacón-Reitzel also completed the Leadership New Mexico program in 2007, received the New Mexico Department of Agriculture Industry Partner Award in 2011 and was recognized by the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service with the Friend of Extension Award in 2015.  In addition, Chacón-Reitzel received the New Mexico Outstanding Leadership Award in 2015 which highlights recipients that are esteemed for conveying significant leadership contributions to agriculture in New Mexico.

In 2020, she was recognized by the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association as the recipient of the King Service Award, which is awarded to a member who admirably represents the State of New Mexico.

Chacón-Reitzel has also served on other national and regional boards and committees including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Beef Safety Research Committee, New Mexico 4-H Foundation, Saint Pius High School Foundation, and UNM Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Chacón-Reitzel and her husband, Jim Reitzel, have been married for over 35 years and they have two children, Elizabeth and Matthew, both of whom are NMSU graduates.

Regent Chacón-Reitzel serves as chair of the Regents Real Estate Committee.

Deborah Romero

Member

Term Expires: December 31, 2026

Deborah (Debbi) Romero retired as cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) in 2022 following a nearly 50-year career as a public servant in New Mexico state government. Regent Romero has worked for nine different gubernatorial administrations and participated in over 40 legislative sessions.

She has worked in budgeting and finance across a wide variety of fields, with the majority of her career spent at DFA. Throughout her time at the department, she established the infrastructure capital outlay process for local governments, created the state’s capital outlay tracking system, and launched the state Infrastructure Finance Conference, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. She also previously served as Chief Financial Officer for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, as well as the Director of Boards and Commissions under two previous administrations.

Regent Debbie Romero succeeds Arsenio Romero, who vacated his position as a regent to serve as cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Regent Romero serves as the chair of the Regents Financial Strategies, Performance and Budget Committee and is a member of the Regents Audit and Risk Committee.