Cynthia Rooney

Cynthia Rooney has been appointed to serve as the full-time interim executive director of the UNM-Los Alamos campus announced by Provost Chaouki Abdallah.

Rooney, who is currently the dean of Instruction at UNM-Los Alamos, begins her new duties Aug. 1.

“Los Alamos is a campus of vital importance to UNM,” Abdallah said, “and will need strong leadership to pursue emerging opportunities for that campus. We believe Dr. Rooney’s unique set of skills, experience, and commitment will enable her to do just that. The UNM-Los Alamos Advisory Board and I are extraordinarily pleased for her willingness to take on this role.”

“I have always felt that UNM-Los Alamos is in a unique position to represent the state’s flagship institution,” Rooney said. “Our resources include both the community’s excellence in science, and the region’s rich history and variety of cultures. There are many people, like myself, who look forward to helping our campus achieve its potential.”

Rooney has been UNM-Los Alamos’s dean of instruction since July 2013. She previously served the campus as associate dean and as the chair of the Business Department. Her teaching interests and research have primarily been in financial accounting and auditing, with appointments at the College of William and Mary, Xavier University, and the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. A licensed CPA, Rooney holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration, with a major in Accounting and a minor in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, from the University of Tennessee.

Wynn Goering, who had been serving as the branch’s chief executive officer in a part-time capacity since July 2014, will return full-time to his position as CEO of UNM West in Rio Rancho. Kay Willerton, UNM-Los Alamos’s associate dean, will fill the role of interim dean.

A national search to fill the position on a permanent basis is planned for next year.