Richard Glover
STATE News:
…Air Force veteran brings decades of experience to state government
SANTA FE. – Economic Development Department (EDD) Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced today that Richard Glover has been chosen by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as the new Director of the Office of Military Base Planning and Support.
Glover is an El Paso native who retired from the U.S. Air Force after a career focused on Research and Development and Intelligence Operations.
After a 16-year career primarily supporting the Office of Special Projects for the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force that included multiple deployments across the globe, Glover left the Air Force to work for several large and small aerospace contractors, serving as Chief Engineer, Director of Operations, Director of Engineering, Division Manager, Vice President, President, and CEO.
“This Office was created to keep New Mexico’s military bases open and thriving,” EDD Secretary Keyes said. “Richard Glover is from a military family and has the background to support a robust military sector in the state, one that works hand-in-hand with economic development as New Mexico grows its private sector job-rich industries in defense and aerospace.”
“I’m really happy to be working with Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Economic Development Department to coordinate opportunities with New Mexico’s military bases and the Department of Defense. We offer strategic resources and opportunities not available in other states, and New Mexico is wise to build and sustain these partnerships so all New Mexicans can benefit,” Glover said.
Glover is an experienced operations executive with a six-sigma black belt and over 30 years of experience in military operations, technology strategy, venture funding, staff development, and corporate turnaround. He has worked both sides of the merger & acquisition (M&A) process and is very adept at finding and quantifying technology, operational, and intellectual property (IP) risk.
Glover began dabbling in the space commercialization arena when he cofounded Microgravity Enterprises, Inc (MEI) back in 2006. More as a hobby than a business, MEI developed and sold the world’s first space beer (Comet’s Tail Amber Ale at Kelly’s Brew Pub in Albuquerque) and a space energy drink (Antimatter) which sold in local retail establishments. These beverages were produced from ingredients that MEI flew to space out of the Spaceport in Upham, NM.
Later, Glover cofounded ACME Advanced Materials (now known as Lattice-X) which is a Strategic Technology Company focused on commercialization of a unique new form of Wide Band Gap semiconductor. Lattice-X is currently in the process of licensing this technology. Glover still serves on the Board of Directors for Lattice-X.
Glover received a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Glover is a self-described space nerd and an amateur historian with interest in the revolutionary war and military strategy in general. His father was retired Army and his wife is a retired teacher. He has three grown sons, one of whom is serving in the U.S. Air Force, another works as an engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, and the third is in healthcare operations in Arizona.
New Mexico has more than 12,700 active duty military and is home to the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range as well as Kirtland, Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
The Office of Military Base Planning and Support works as a liaison between the state and the federal congressional delegation on military planning and support issues. It also works with base representatives and communities around military bases on access, infrastructure operations, planning, and logistic concerns. The office is administratively attached to EDD and Glover reports directly to Secretary Keyes and Gov. Lujan Grisham.
