Louis Caldera will be UNM's next president after signing a four-year contract with the University May 13 - a deal regents say will usher in "a different type of leadership" for the state's largest university.
"This institution needs leadership that is innovative and can reach out beyond the University," Reg. Mel Eaves said after the Board of Regents unanimously approved the agreement with Caldera in an open meeting at Scholes Hall Tuesday. "I believe we have chosen the best candidate" from a group of more than 90.
Increasing UNM's visibility at the local and national levels, improving the quality of education for both graduate and undergraduate students and supporting research that will benefit the state will be some of Caldera's goals as president, he said.
"Today's society is looking for so much from research universities" in areas such as health care and technology research, Caldera said. "The power of a research university is to transform the lives of students - there are limitless possibilities in terms of benefiting society."
Fundraising, he added, is one of the challenges any university president faces.
Caldera, 47, will leave his job as vice chancellor for University Advancement in the California State University system to officially start work at UNM on July 14. Previously, he was Secretary of the Army from 1998-2001 and a California assemblyman from 1992-97.
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The four-year contract will make Caldera the highest-paid president in UNM history with a base salary of $270,000. He will also receive an annual $30,000 retirement annuity; $800 a month car allowance; $3,000 a month for housing expenses; and a performance incentive package worth up to $25,000 a year.
The contract states that he will be appointed as a full professor with tenure in the School of Law. Caldera earned his law degree in 1987 from Harvard University.
Caldera, who will succeed current president Chris Garcia on Aug. 1, said his appointment as the University's second Hispanic president sends a powerful message to Hispanic students.
"It really shows them that they can take advantage of the educational opportunities that are before them, and that they can achieve what I have achieved, through a public education."
Establishing a good working relationship with UNM faculty, Caldera said, will be one of his top priorities.
"At the end of the day [the faculty] are what make an institution and make its reputation," he said. "They are why students come here to learn."
