Irina Izvokova, Katharine Chartrand, Steve Buelow and Greg Dye at the NMC’s Biolab and Greenhouse. Courtesy/NMC
NMC News:
The Board of Directors of the New Mexico Consortium (NMC) has appointed Dr. Steven J. Buelow to succeed Katharine Chartrand as executive director of the organization. Chartrand is leaving the NMC in July of this year.
Chartrand led the NMC for seven years, from its inception as an independent non-profit research and education organization, to an $8 million per year research organization with major research programs in Biology and Computer Science.
“The NMC is in a solid financial position with a strong team in place ready to take over. It feels like my Seinfeld moment has come,” Chartrand said.
NMC has engaged hundreds of LANL staff and University faculty in $76 million in conferences, research programs, and educational programs under Chartrand’s leadership. Chartrand managed the financing and construction of NMC’s $12 million Biological Laboratory.
“Katharine’s accomplishments during her tenure as director of the NMC are overwhelming,” Dr. Van Romero, NMC Board chair and vice president for Research at New Mexico Tech.
“We’ve laid a foundation for new ways for the universities and LANL to work together that are potentially game changing. The NMC partnership is poised to transform the research environment in New Mexico. LANL deserves tremendous credit for a forward thinking strategy with respect to the NMC,” Chartrand said.
“Getting all this done while balancing the interests of the Research Universities and LANL has been no easy task. We will miss Katharine’s leadership,” Romero said.
Buelow has served as director of Laboratory Research at the NMC since 2012, managing the NMC Biology and Bio-medical research initiative in the NMC’s Biolab. Buelow oversees the NMC laboratory user facility, which hosts NMC research programs as well as researchers from LANL and industry. The Biolab supports a broad range of research from plant biology to materials.
“The NMC facilities in Los Alamos provide unique advantages to companies interested in working with the New Mexico research community. Industry partnerships are an area of tremendous potential growth for the Biolab and the NMC as a whole,” Buelow said.
The NMC Biolab hosts UbiQD, a startup commercializing disruptive quantum dot technology developed at LANL and MIT for lighting, coatings, and other markets.
“The UbiQD relationship has been great for the NMC, we would like to see more partnerships like this,” Buelow said.
“We are very fortunate to have someone with Steve’s experience as Director of the NMC. Steve is the right person to lead the organization as we move into new territory,” says Romero.
Before joining the New Mexico Consortium in 2012, Buelow held research and management positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As Leader of the Energy Security Center, Buelow worked with LANL line and program organizations to coordinate the development of LANL’s Energy Security Mission. Buelow was recognized for excellence as a mentor at LANL where he worked with over seventy students and nearly two-dozen post-doctoral students.
The NMC Board has appointed a Chief Operating Officer and a Chief Financial Officer to support the Director in managing the NMC. Irina Izvekova, COO, joined the NMC as its second employee in 2008. Izvekova built the NMC’s business operations infrastructure from the ground up.
Greg Dye, CFO, joins the NMC from Santa Fe Community College where he was a Professor in the School of Business. Dye has also worked with the Regional Development Corporation for four years, where he will continue to serve as CFO.
About the New Mexico Consortium
The New Mexico Consortium (NMC) is a non-profit corporation formed by the three New Mexico research universities to advance scientific research and education in New Mexico. The NMC is in a unique position to develop and continually improve models for pursuing collaborative research across our partner institutions.
The NMC coordinates and leads joint program development efforts, pursues, develops and executes research and educational programs. The NMC organizes meetings ranging from workshops to international conferences, among many other activities. The NMC currently manages more than $30 million in research grants and contracts.
The NMC’s joint initiatives with LANL include Advanced Computing, Plant Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Modeling and Analysis.
For more information, please contact Shannan Yeager at syeager@newmexicoconsortium.org or 505.412.6898.
