BOULDER, Colorado – Barbara Damron, professor and Ridenour/Mason Fellow at the University of New Mexico, has been elected as chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).
The WICHE Commission is comprised of 48 commissioners appointed by their respective governors from the 15 Western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States. The commissioners are higher education leaders and include state higher education executive officers, college and university presidents, legislators, business and community leaders, and other key partners. Together, they guide WICHE’s strategic direction and assure that the Western Regional Education Compact, which the Western states adopted in 1953, is carried out for the benefit of the region.
“As the WICHE chair, I hope to demonstrate to others the positive impact that nurses and other healthcare professionals can and do have on the world,” Damron said. “This role is an excellent opportunity to expand educational opportunities and promote innovation and cooperation across all aspects of higher education and workforce development.”
Serving most recently as the Commission’s vice chair, Damron has been a WICHE commissioner since 2015. Antwan Jefferson, WICHE Commission chair for 2024 and associate dean and associate teaching professor in the School of Education & Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver, now serves as immediate past chair, while Utah State Sen. Ann Millner was selected vice chair.
“I am grateful to Immediate Past Chair Jefferson for his commitment and determination to better serve all students in the West, and I congratulate Chair Damron on becoming the 2025 chair,” said WICHE President Demarée Michelau. “Her nursing background, previous service as the secretary of higher education, and numerous campus leadership roles have been and will continue to be instrumental as she leads the WICHE Commission this coming year.”
Damron’s long professional history spans more than 40 years — 25 in New Mexico — including being a leader in education, a healthcare executive, an advanced practice nurse, a college professor, an international consultant, and a cancer scientist. She has built positive and extensive relationships within the state’s higher education community, as well as within the legislative and executive branches.
Damron serves as a tenured professor and as the Ridenour/Mason New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium Fellow at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Nursing. She also is a tenured professor at the UNM School of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, and senior advisor to the director for Project ECHO. Prior to that, she served as the chief government relations officer for the University of New Mexico. She was also New Mexico’s cabinet secretary of higher education and State Higher Education Executive Officer for four years. On the national level, Damron has been a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/National Academy of Medicine Congressional Fellow in the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP); an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; a Congressional Fellow for Senator Lamar Alexander; Commissioner of the Education Commission of the States; and sits on the Board of Directors of Complete College America.
Damron received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, a master of science degree in nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Media Contact:
Melanie Sidwell, Director of Communications
Mobile: 303.834.5278 | msidwell@wiche.edu
www.wiche.edu
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About WICHE
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all residents of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy, WICHE strengthens higher education’s contributions to the region’s social, economic, and civic life. Visit www.wiche.edu
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