Previous Honorees

Mayor Richard J. Berry
BBA
Richard J. Berry was sworn in as Mayor of the City of Albuquerque on December 1, 2009. As mayor he has successfully worked to drop the crime rate in Albuquerque to some of the lowest levels in 20 years, has brought the City to the national forefront for transparency and accountability, and has cut the size of local Government while keeping city employees on the job and services to the community intact. Prior to serving as Albuquerque's chief executive officer, he was twice elected to the New Mexico Legislature.

Mayor Berry is an accomplished business entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience in New Mexico and throughout the Southwest United States. He earned his degree in finance and administration at the University of New Mexico and was a letterman on the Lobo track and field team.

Mayor Berry and his son are both Eagle Scouts and he received the Silver Beaver award from the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife Maria are members of UNM's Popejoy Society.

John W. Brown
BBA
John W. Brown, CFA, is the President and CEO of Silent Falcon UAS Technologies, a high innovation manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and UAS components for the global defense, public safely and intelligence markets. He has 35 years of senior management experience in investment banking and investment analysis and management and in the management and oversight of technology oriented businesses.

John received his BBA from the University of New Mexico and earned a MBA from the University of Michigan with concentrations in finance and financial economics. John has a long history at the Anderson School of Management. He has chaired and served on the Anderson School of Management Foundation's Board of Directors, judged the Technology Business Plan Competition, and is a Professional Faculty Member teaching Entrepreneurial Finance and Entrepreneurship in the executive and traditional MBA programs.

In 2011 John received the Erna S. Ferguson Award for Distinguished Alumni from the UNM Alumni Association and is a member of the 2010 Leadership New Mexico Class. And an interesting fact, between 2000 – 2008 he was the captain of a 53 foot cruising sailboat that traveled more than 10-thousand nautical miles throughout the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean.

Kimberly E. Peña
BBA
Kimberly E. Peña, CPA, is one of seven women principals of REDW Business & Financial Resources LLC, one of the largest and most respected certified public accounting and business consulting firms in the Southwest. She has more than 18 years of experience in providing financial statement audits, financial consulting, and regulatory compliance services to a variety of public and private entities, large multinational corporations, and nonprofit organizations in a variety of industries. Kimberly is a key member of REDW's recruiting team and interviews and recruits job candidate from the Anderson School of Management, as well as other universities.

Kimberly is the Chair of the Audit Committee for the Board of Trustees of the University of New Mexico Foundation, serves on the Board of Directors of New Mexico Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, and has presented at the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) Convention. She earned her BBA from the UNM with a concentration in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in New Mexico and California. Kimberly says her induction into the Hall of Fame will allow her to serve as a role model to other Hispanic, native New Mexican women and dutifully represent the Anderson School alumni.

Erik Baca
MBA
Erik Baca, MBA, is proof that hard work does indeed pay off. A native New Mexican who started at Intel Corporation immediately after receiving his BBA in Accounting from UNM Anderson in 1999, Erik is now the Fab 11X Controller responsible for all financial operations of the multi-billion dollar Intel operation in Rio Rancho. The Rio Rancho semiconductor manufacturing facility is one of the largest and most advanced in the world. Erik also is a leader on the site for helping set the future strategy for the organization. He is active with the United Way and serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce. He is passionate about sharing his story of growing up under modest means and benefiting from hard work and scholarships; he mentors students getting ready to enter college through the Hispanic Youth Institute. Erik earned his MBA from Arizona State University.

Anthony L. Montoya, Jr.
MBA
Albuquerque native Anthony L. Montoya, Jr., PE, MBA, is the Chief Engineer for the Water Resources Division of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. He oversees the $75 million Capital Improvement Program and the Asset Management section, but his main responsibility is to make sure current projects enable perpetual sustainability of Albuquerque's water supply and sanitary sewer treatment.

Anthony graduated from NM Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 2002, the same year he started the MBA program at the Anderson with a concentration in finance. Last year he was the first professional member inducted into Eta Kappa Nu, UNM's electrical engineering and computer science honor society. Anthony is studying Principles of Chemical Science through MIT online courses and plans to enroll in Organic Chemistry to further enhance his technical contributions to the Water Authority. He also makes time to mentor and tutor students in math, science, and business.

Tim Nisly
BBA, MBA
Tim Nisly is the Founder and Curator of TEDxABQ and the Chief Operations Officer at Rio Grande Community Development Corporation where he oversees the financial and operational aspect of multiple nonprofit programs in economic development and community health. Tim received his BBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from UNM Anderson and as well as a MBA in Marketing Management. He says his education at Anderson was instrumental in formulating him into the person he is today and gave him a specialized set of life skills. 2012 brought Tim many accolades. He was recognized as 40 Under 40 by the New Mexico Business Weekly, Emerging Creative Bravos by Creative Albuquerque, and was named New Mexico Minority Small Business Champion by the NM Small Business Administration.

As Curator of TEDxABQ Tim brought together a team of volunteers to organize the 2010, 2011, and 2012 TEDxABQ conference, and oversaw the creation of the TEDxABQWomen and TEDxABQ Education events. TEDxABQ has showcased 56 New Mexicans with amazing ideas in events that attracted more than 2000 attendees and over 150,000 views online. Work is already underway for the 2013 conference.