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Highlights of Annual Business Meeting

submitted by NMAM president Laurie Rufe

The following new Board Members were elected by the membership at the Annual Business Meeting:

1st VP: Pat Price, Museum Educator, Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Santa Fe, elected to first term
Northwest Regional Representative: Sarah Cooke, Education Coordinator, Farmington Museum, elected to first term
MPMA Representative, Tony Thibodeau, Collections Manager, Archaeological Research Collections, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, elected to second term
Membership Officer, Caroline Brooks, Assistant Director, Roswell Museum and Art Center, elected to first term
Treasurer, Linda Deck, Director, Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos, elected to first term
Southeast Regional Representative, Nancy Dunn, Museum Manager, Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center, elected to first term

Outgoing Board members Norman Edwards, 1st Vice President, and Julie Baird, Northwest Regional Representative, received recognition for their service to NMAM.

President Laurie Rufe thanked the Board for their dedication and leadership, and acknowledged the Annual Conference Committee for their hard work in planning an exceptional meeting. Committee members include:

Selena Connealy, Museum Educator, 2nd Vice President and overall Chair;
Pat Price, Museum Educator, Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Program Chair;
Laura Lovejoy-May, Special Events Coordinator, Museum of International Folk Art, Special Arrangements;
Nicolasa Chávez, Curator of Hispano, Latino, and Spanish Colonial Collections, Museum of International Folk Art, Special Arrangements; and
Lorraine Rotunno, Executive Assistant to the Director, New Mexico Museum of Art, Special Arrangements.

Selena Connealy also thanked Doug Patinka, Webmaster and Website Manager for the Department of Cultural Affairs, and Tony Thibodeau, Collections Manager, Archaeological Research Collections, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology for their assistance in planning and implementation of the Annual Conference.

Norman Edwards introduced the 2009 scholarship recipients:

Sarah Cooke, Education Coordinator, Farmington Museum;
Janelle Decker Molony, Membership Coordinator, Roswell Museum and Art Center; and
Laura Eliff, Collections Manager, Indian Arts Research Center, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe.

The Edgar Lee Hewett Award was presented to:

Louise Stiver, Chief Curator, New Mexico History Museum, retired, and
New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe (accepted by Dr. Frances Levine, Director)

Edgar Lee Hewett was the first director of the Museum of New Mexico from 1909 until his death in 1946. He taught anthropology at UNM and was instrumental in encouraging the development of small museums throughout New Mexico. Each year NMAM bestows two awards in his honor – to a person and an organization whose actions exemplify leadership or service to the New Mexico museum community.

Nellie Price, Museum Educator, City of Las Vegas Museum, welcomed the membership to join in Las Vegas, New Mexico for the 2010 Annual Conference, and Jay Smith, Director, Hubbard Museum of the American West, nominated Ruidoso as the site for the 2011 Annual Conference, which was unanimously approved.

Also attending the Annual Business Meeting were the following VIPs:

Monta Lee Dakin, Director, Mountain-Plains Museums Association;
Jay Smith, President, Mountain-Plains Museums Association;
Kathy Wright, Member, Board of Directors, Mountain-Plains Museums Association;
Ruth Ann Rudd, Director, Texas Association of Museums; and
Rosie Kennedy, Representative for the New Mexico Centennial Commission.