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WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Wednesday morning, officials with the City of El Paso announced that City Manager Tommy Gonzalez was honored with the 2019 Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Excellence Award in the Government sector.

The award was presented at the Baldrige Foundation’s 31st annual Quest for Excellence conference; the award recognizes role-model leaders in their field.

“This national award is an opportunity to showcase the exceptional work our team of City employees are delivering to our community. This is also an opportunity to bring national recognition to our city, as this award represents the work of our entire organization,” Gonzalez said. “Today’s recognition also speaks to the Mayor and Council’s commitment to provide efficient services to the residents of El Paso.”

The Baldrige Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence honors leaders in Business, Nonprofit, Government, Healthcare, Education and Cybersecurity. The award recognizes leaders who provide exceptional support to Baldrige through their actions across their state and across America thereby supporting the Foundation’s mission.

“This recognition of Tommy Gonzalez by the Baldrige Foundation is well deserved. His leadership is reflected by the performance of City staff and their results,” said Mayor Dee Margo.

For the City of El Paso, the national award is notable recognition that further ratifies the ongoing positive accolades El Paso has and continues to receive.

“There are so many people doing such important work promoting the Baldrige Framework. The Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence recognize their efforts to grow the Baldrige community and help thousands of organizations across the country to improve their performance,” said Al Faber, President and CEO of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc.,

“Baldrige makes healthcare safer and more accessible, education more effective, businesses more efficient and customer-focused, cyber systems more secure, governments more streamlined, and nonprofits more responsive across the spectrum. These great leaders are helping to ensure the sustainability of Baldrige into the future.”

The award recipients for 2019 are:

• Maryruth Butler, Executive Director, Cascadia Healthcare (Healthcare sector)
• Dr. Glenn Crotty, Executive VP and COO, Charleston Area Medical Center (Healthcare sector)
• Dr. James Evans, Prof. Emeritus, Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati (Education sector)
• Tommy Gonzalez, City Manager, El Paso, Texas (Government sector)
• Sam Graves, U.S. House of Representatives (MO) (Government sector)
• Cary Hill, CEO of MESA (Business sector)
• Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP (Nonprofit sector)
• Dr. Bruce Kintz, President and CEO of Concordia Publishing House (Nonprofit sector)
• Deborah Larkin-Carney, VP of Quality at RWJ Barnabas Health (Healthcare sector)
• Robert Pence, Chairman of the Board of Freese & Nichols(Business sector)
• Pattie Skriba, VP for Business Excellence at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital (Healthcare sector)
• Allyson Young, HR and Brand Director at K&N Management (Business sector)

Louisville, Kentucky – Hector Zamora, El Paso Community College (EPCC) Criminal Justice Professor, received the Father William Diersen Award, the highest honor bestowed by Dismas Charities, Inc.

The award presented to Zamora during the awards banquet following the annual Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, is named in honor of Dismas’ founder.

Zamora is responsible for the development of a national initiative whose goal is to create internships in all Dismas Charities programs across the nation. His relationship with numerous universities have seen the company’s Internship Program grow quickly.

Many of the students become permanent employees of Dismas.

Education officials refer to Dismas as an ideal location as it is a controlled environment with multiple challenges. “Hector Zamora challenged me, constantly providing great feedback and being patient with me,” wrote one intern. Another offered that Zamora was “encouraging and supportive, and a positive step in my learning, ability, and progress.”

The criteria for the award states that the “recipient demonstrated exceptional motivation toward the betterment of the community through direct, active, and frequent action. They improved the quality of life of their fellow man and/or the citizenry by their leadership. They took on difficult issues and challenges, followed them through to successful fruition, made a brighter day, and offered hope for the future of his fellow man. The award-winner instilled a sense of belief and faith in others, pointing the way and offering encouragement and support and proved their honesty and integrity are at the forefront of every decision, and acted without thought of personal gain. Dismas Charities gives men and women releasing from state and federal incarceration the skills and motivation to re-enter society as contributing members. The work of Dismas is to end the cycle of victimization and to heal the human spirit.”

Dismas Charities is a not-for-profit company that operates 35 Re-Entry Centers nationwide. In New Mexico and Tennessee, it is known as Diersen Charities.

A key part of many fields such as oil and gas exploration, mining, gas storage, carbon sequestration and geothermal energy development is being able to predict what is under the Earth’s surface.

New Mexico State University faculty and students will now be able to use cutting-edge techniques to analyze the subsurface structure of the Earth thanks to a donation of software worth more than $2.1 million from Petroleum Experts, Inc.

“We are very excited that our faculty and staff will have access to the Move software package,” said Nancy McMillan, Regents professor and department head of NMSU’s Department of Geological Sciences. “We appreciate the donation from Petroleum Experts, Inc. This will allow us to apply state-of-the-art methods of structural analysis for teaching and research.”

Reed Burgette, assistant professor of geological sciences, initiated the request for the software, and is coordinating the use of the Move software suite following the donation from Petroleum Experts, Inc.

“This software gives NMSU students the opportunity to learn skills relevant to employment in a variety of sectors,” said Burgette. “It allows users to construct 2D cross-sections as well as 3D models using available surface and subsurface geologic observations.”

A geometric model of the deformed crust can be restored to an un-deformed state to test for compatibility of the model with principles of structural geology and to understand the history of deformation through time. Additional modules of the program permit analysis of the relationships between faults and fractures and stress and strain in the deformed crust.

NMSU geological sciences faculty and students conducting research on tectonics – large-scale processes affecting the structure of the Earth’s crust – will use the software to understand the history of active and past deformation in diverse settings, including the Rio Grande rift of southern New Mexico, the Transverse Ranges of southern California and the Tien Shan Mountains of Central Asia.

“The Move software will enable faculty and students to pursue new directions in research at NMSU,” said Burgette. “This will be a great opportunity for our students to work with the kinds of 3D modeling tools they will be expected to master once they graduate and are in the workforce.”

Author: Minerva Baumann – NMSU

Seventh and eighth grade students at Captain Walter E. Clarke Middle School designed, illustrated and voiced a mobile app that has been published and copyrighted by Apple Inc.

Elements and Principles of Art is the first mobile app of its kind to be published in the app store, according to Apple. The educational tool allows users to learn about art-making components, such as balance, rhythm, contrast, unity, pattern, movement and emphasis, and incorporate them into their own illustrations.

Samuel Saucedo, visual arts teacher at Clarke Middle school, said his students worked hard on the project to ensure it met required guidelines, quality and functionality.

“I am really proud of my students,” Saucedo said. “To have their drawings, voices and designs published is exciting. There are so many things you can do when you combine art and technology, and this will surely open many doors for them.”

The young app developers now are setting their sights on how to improve and update their app. Their goal is to create art appreciation awareness through digital curriculum that can be used worldwide.

“It’s an honor to know that we were part of this because it will help other kids,” said Yedsenery Espinoza, a seventh grader at Clarke Middle School. “They will read the definition of the element and when they see our drawings they will say ‘oh, that’s what it’s supposed to look like.’”

Another student, Jessica Perez, said the experience has built her desire to succeed.

“I never thought something I contributed to would be this successful,” she said. “I want to keep drawing and see where it leads. I did accomplish helping create an app. What makes me think I can’t do something bigger?”

Proud parent Stephanie Michele, said that when her daughter mentioned the app she didn’t think much of it, until she received news that it was published.

“I think it’s amazing that my daughter’s art piece can be viewed by people in different countries,” Michele said. “There are some things I didn’t know about art elements until I downloaded the app. It’s pretty cool that it teaches me, too, and will let them be in touch with people from other countries.”

The free app is available in the App Store for iOS devices. Click here to download Elements and Principles of Art.