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New Mexico State University

Staff

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Robert Foster

Robert Foster is the Deputy Chief of Party in Kabul, Afghanistan for the Afghanistan Water, Agriculture and Technology Transfer (AWATT) Project headed by the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business.

Foster has worked at New Mexico State University in the College of Engineering since 1989, most recently as Program Manager for the Institute of Energy and Environment. He started his renewable energy career in 1984 with Cole Solar in Austin, TX, and later served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic (1985-88), where he built community water supply projects and installed solar photovoltaic systems. He has worked in over 30 countries on solar and wind energy projects with USAID, Department of Energy, USTDA, DOD, NASA, United Nations, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia Labs, World Bank, and various State and overseas governments.

Foster was the technical manager for the USAID/DOE Mexico Renewable Energy Program from 1992-2005. Additionally, he has assisted with USAID solar and wind projects in Brazil, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and the Phillippines. Foster has previously trained engineers on solar energy in Afghanistan, Dubai, and Bangladesh.

Foster is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and holds a MBA from New Mexico State University. He also enjoys harnessing windpower with his sailboat.

Office: NMSU Compound, Kabul, Afghanistan
Phone: NMSU: 575-646-3948
Kabul: +93 (0) 795-996-895
Fax: 575-646-5474
E-mail: rfoster@nmsu.edu

Bob Grassberger

Bob Grassberger

As a former research scientist at both New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico, Bob Grassberger has produced over 90 studies on business, economics, policy, and organizational productivity. He has been affiliated with NMSU and UNM for a total of 22 years.

From 2000 until 2004, Grassberger was the Chief Operating Officer of the Vitel Corporation. Vitel designed and developed knowledge management solutions for the National Laboratories and was a "gazelle company" that grew in three years to 22 employees. Vitel became a place known for its enthusiastic and engaged employees and the service it provided to its customers.

He presently works with NMSU as a project specialist in Jordan assisting and training the Bedouin people and in Afghanistan (AWATT) helping to restore and expand the agricultural base. As an adjunct professor at UNM, he teaches graduate courses on the future of work and on consulting practice.

Grassberger and his wife have lived in New Mexico since 1979. He is an alumnus of both NMSU and UNM. He holds a BA in Biology, and MS in Agricultural Economics and a Ph.D. in Organizational Learning.

Office: Albuquerque, NM
Phone: 505-792-8797
Fax:
E-mail: rgrassberger@comcast.net

Abdul Qayyum Khan

Abdul Qayyum Khan

Abdul Qayyum Khan is an Agricultural Economist and Project Management Specialist. He received his MSc. in Economics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from Colorado State University.

Kahn has worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for more than 15 years as Project Officer. He has extensive experience in Project Design, Performance Management, Implementaion and Evaluation. He has been involved in Many agricultural development projects funded by USAID, FAO, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Swiss Development Corporation and DFID.

Currently, Khan is Chief of Party of the Afghanistan Water, Agriculture and Technology Transfer (AWATT) Project funded by USAID Afghanistan and implemented by New Mexico State University as the lead institution of a consortium of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and Colorado State University.

Office: NMSU Compound, Kabul, Afghanistan
Phone: +93 (0) 798-455-780
Fax:
E-mail: aqkhan@nmsu.edu

R. Patrick (Pat) Sullivan

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Patrick Sullivan is an Economic Development Specialist with the Cooperative Extension Service at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has over 22 years direct experience in agriculture finance, business and management.

Sullivan develops improved agricultural financial management techniques for implementation by business owners and managers statewide through both group outreach programs and direct one-on-one assistance. He also conducts feasibility analysis, market segment analysis, loan packaging, as well as financial reporting and analysis. He develops budget and tax planning programs designed specifically to address the unique issues associated with agriculture, with particular expertise in addressing market and financial trends including changes in regulatory structures.

Sullivan directs all aspects of the United States Department of Agriculture state certified New Mexico Agricultural Mediation Program. He provides confidential mediation for agricultural issues including: wetlands determinations; compliance with farm programs; conservation programs; agricultural credit; rural water loan programs; grazing on Forest Service lands; pesticides, and such other issues as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture considers appropriate.

Sullivan has appeared as an agricultural finance and tax expert before the United States Tax Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Sullivan has a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture from New Mexico State University and a Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics from New Mexico State University.

Office: GT 347
Phone: 575-646-2433
Fax:575-646-3808
E-mail: pasulliv@nmsu.edu

Support Staff

-Sylvia Beuhler
Reports Layout Typist II
Office: GT 368
Phone: 575-646-4321
Fax: 575-646-3522
sbeuhler@nmsu.edu

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-Roseann Colorbio
Reports Layout Typist
Office: GT 379
Phone: 575-646-1044
Fax: 575-646-3808
rcolorbi@nmsu.edu

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-Rita Gandara
Fiscal Specialist - AWATT
Office: SK 214
Phone: 575-646-5314
Fax: 575-646-2301
rgandara@nmsu.edu

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-Margaret Hall
Accounting Technician II
Office: GT 387
Phone: 575-646-2829
Fax: 575-646-3808
mlhall@nmsu.edu

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-Marilyn Heide
Department Secretary III
Office: GT 387
Phone: 575-646-3215
Fax: 575-646-3808
mheide@nmsu.edu

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-Rosanne Lehman.
Extension Administrative
Secretary II
Office: GT 387
Phone: 575-646-3215
Fax: 575-646-3808
rosannel@nmsu.edu

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-Irma Marshall
Records Tech II
Office: GT 379
Phone: 575-646-1344
Fax: 575-646-3808
imarshal@nmsu.edu

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