The University of New Mexico

Regent Sandra Begay

BegaySandra K. Begay is a regent of the University of New Mexico and was recently appointed by Mayor Tim Keller as the Director of the Environmental Health Department for the city of Albuquerque. Begay worked for Sandia National Laboratories for 27 years as a Principal Member of the Technical Staff and headed Sandia's technical efforts in the Indian Energy Program to assist Native American tribes with renewable energy development. Prior to this, she worked at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Begay is a former Executive Director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), former chair of the AISES Board of Directors, and the recipient of the AISES Lifetime Achievement Award. Begay was a founder of the UNM AISES Chapter as a student leader.

In 2000, Begay was the recipient of the Stanford University 2000 Multicultural Alumni of the Year Award. She has also been selected as a recipient of the Governor's Award for Outstanding Women from the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women. Begay recently received the Alumni Circle Award from the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) for her lifetime contributions to the advancement of Native American students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and careers. Currently, Begay is the site mentor at UNM-Gallup for the NM Rainforest University Center program. Begay holds a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from UNM and a Master's in Structural Engineering from Stanford University.