[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 216 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S9209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     TRIBUTE TO DR. BARBARA DAMRON

 Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is my honor to recognize Dr. 
Barbara Damron's countless contributions in service to New Mexico over 
the course of her career as she transitions from her position as the 
chief government relations officer for the University of New Mexico, 
including the central campus, the health sciences center, and all 
branch campuses.
  For more than three decades, Dr. Damron has built an impressive 
resume of experiences as an education leader, a healthcare executive, a 
college professor, an international consultant, an advanced practice 
nurse, and a cancer scientist. In addition to her work at the 
University of New Mexico, she has served as the New Mexico Higher 
Education Department Cabinet Secretary and as the State Higher 
Education Executive Officer, where she oversaw all of our State's 28 
institutions of higher education, 4 Tribal colleges, and over 190 
private and proprietary postsecondary schools.
  Dr. Damron led the Common Course Numbering System, which aligned all 
lower division courses among institutions of higher education 
throughout New Mexico. As cabinet secretary, Dr. Damron demonstrated 
her responsiveness to and collaboration with communities in our State. 
Dr. Damron has also chaired the New Mexico Education Trust Board and 
New Mexico's 529 college savings plan and served as a commissioner of 
the Western Interstate Commission and of the Education Commission of 
the States.
  I appreciate Dr. Damron's deep engagement with my office as she 
worked to help bring the University of New Mexico's impressive talent 
and resources to bear against the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on 
our communities. I will always be grateful for both Dr. Damron's 
incredible management skills and the sense of humor she has always 
brought to her work.
  I am pleased that Dr. Damron will keep serving New Mexicans as an 
educator by continuing to teach students in the University of New 
Mexico Health Sciences Center's College of Nursing. I am confident that 
her commitment to the success of our State's students and educators 
will never end. And I congratulate her on this next chapter of her 
career.

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