The NMSU President is the university’s chief executive officer and responsible for oversight of the entire NMSU System.

Interim President Mónica Torres, Ph.D.

Interim President Mónica Torres (she/her/hers) earned her Bachelor’s (1982) and Master’s (1984) degrees in English from New Mexico State University before attaining her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico (2002). Torres has worked in higher education for almost forty years beginning in 1982 as a composition instructor. Since then, she has been a faculty member and/or academic administrator at four universities and three community colleges in New Mexico, Minnesota, and Illinois. Dr. Mónica Torres has been at Doña Ana Community College for eleven years—first, as vice-president for academic affairs and, since 2018, as president.

Torres has engaged in community service throughout her career. That work has included serving on the founding boards of the Mesilla Valley Film Society, La Piñon, and Ngage New Mexico. She currently serves on nine boards and commissions including the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, The Bridge of Southern New Mexico, MVEDA, and the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. 


Incoming President Valerio Ferme, Ph.D.

Valerio Ferme is the Incoming President for the New Mexico State University System. As NMSU President, he will lead the state’s comprehensive research, land-grant university excelling in teaching, research, and public service. He previously served as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, as well as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Cincinnati (UC). 

A firm believer in student success, Ferme supported numerous access and retention investments on the behalf of students at UC. At the same time, during his tenure there as provost, the colleges more than doubled hires of underrepresented faculty; and the provost’s office launched a post-doctoral program to attract diverse, prospective faculty candidates; provided permanent professional funds for employee resource groups; created a provost faculty fellow program; and addressed salary minima for advising staff and adjunct faculty. 

A native of Italy holding dual citizenship, Ferme earned undergraduate degrees in Biology and Religious Studies at Brown University, Masters in Comparative Literature and Italian Studies from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, where he was awarded Fulbright and Chancellor’s Fellowships.