New Mexico State University

1. New Mexico’s oldest public university — founded 1888, before New Mexico was a state.

2. Lead institution for the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, with research partnerships that have reached the International Space Station.

3. Home to the Chile Pepper Institute — where NMSU scientists developed the variety that flew to the International Space Station, confirmed the world’s hottest pepper in Guinness World Records, and created the NuMex Big Jim, the world’s largest chile pepper variety.

4. $150M+ in annual externally funded research — and a presence in all 33 New Mexico counties through the Cooperative Extension Service.  (approved)