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

governor of New Mexico , insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor , image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg , imagesize = 200px , alt = , incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham , incu ...

and the chancellor of

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

. He previously served as special assistant to the

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

from 1974 to 1975, director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute at NMSU, state chair of the

Republican Party of New Mexico The Republican Party of New Mexico is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Steve Pearce, Vice Chair Frank Trambley, Secretary Mari Trujillo Spinelli, and Treasure ...

from 1977 to 1979, and

United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior The deputy secretary of the Interior, in the United States government, advises and assists the secretary of the interior in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Interior and its activities, and succeeds the secretary in his or ...

for Land and Resources from 1981 to 1984.

Early life and education

Carruthers was born in Alamosa, Colorado. 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 land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Career

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, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, resulting in outgoing Democratic Governor

Toney Anaya Toney Anaya (born April 29, 1941) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 26th governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987. Early life and career Anaya was born on in Moriarty, New Mexico. He earned a Bacheor of Arts degree from ...

commuting the sentences of all on death row in protest. His term ended in 1991, and

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder 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 potenti ...

s at the time prevented New Mexico governors from seeking consecutive terms. Carruthers was succeeded by Democrat

Bruce King Bruce King (April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009) was an American businessman and politician who for three non-consecutive four-year terms was the governor of New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the longest-serving governor in Ne ...

, 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 strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...

, 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 American 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