School of Medicine - Research Education Office

MSC08-4560
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131

Physical Location:
UNM Health Sciences Center (North Campus) Reginald Heber Fitz Hall (Building 211)
Room B61

Phone: (505) 272-1887
Fax: 505-272-8738

This is the University of New Mexico...

Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico occupies nearly 700 acres along historic Route 66 in the heart of Albuquerque, a city of half a million people. From the magnificent volcanic mesas to the west, past the banks of the fabled Rio Grande toward the Sandia Mountains to the east, Albuquerque thrives on a dynamic blend of three major cultures and an open, friendly style set in a stunning location.

UNM's beautiful campus environment, with its unique Pueblo Revival architectural theme, is known to Albuquerque residents as an oasis in their city. This oasis features a nationally recognized Campus Arboretum that offers an outstanding botanical experience and is known as one of the state's great public open spaces.

The University has branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Valencia County and Taos, as well as graduate centers in Los Alamos and Santa Fe. In the Spring of 2003, nearly 24, 000 students attended classes on the main campus while another 6,459 attended the branch campuses.

UNM is a Carnegie Research/Doctoral-Extensive University, a distinction that recognizes an exceptional level of funded research activity, an extensive array of graduate and professional programs and a complete complement of high quality undergraduate programs. UNM is also designated as a Minority-serving institution and is one of only four Research/Doctoral-Extensive institutions in the country to also be designated as Hispanic-serving. 28.4% of the student population is Hispanic while another 5.1% is American Indian.

The University offers more than 200 separate degrees and degree programs and has New Mexico's only schools of Law, Medicine, Architecture and Pharmacy. Several UNM graduate programs are nationally-ranked, among them, family medicine and rural medicine, primary care medicine, clinical law, printmaking, photography, engineering and art and art history.

UNM is also ranked among the top universities in the country in terms of the overall quality of its undergraduate programs. Since 1998, UNM students have been awarded two Rhodes, two Marshall, four Truman and five Goldwater scholarships - the nation's most competitive and prestigious academic awards. At the same time, UNM is also one of America's Best 100 College Buys and has been for the past six years. This designation recognizes UNM's outstanding academic quality at an exceptional value.

University Hospital provides the only Trauma I-level services in the state. The UNM Health Sciences Center also provides a highly regarded neonatal intensive care center, a state-of-the-art cancer research and treatment center and the state's most comprehensive group of tertiary care specialists. In 2000-2001, the UNM Health Sciences Center recorded 641,880 outpatient visits and 123,025 inpatient days.

The University's outstanding faculty includes a Nobel Laureate, a MacArthur Fellow and several members of the national academies. Contract and grant awards for FY 2001 tallied $235.7 million, with $147.2 million attributed to main campus contract and grant awards and $88.5 million attributed to the UNM Health Sciences Center.

A sampling of the many outstanding contributions UNM faculty have made to the quality of life of New Mexicans include the following:

Research by UNM biologists that led to the rapid detection of the hantavirus outbreak has been chosen by the National Science Foundation as one of the 50 discoveries made with NSF funding that have had the greatest impact on the lives of Americans.

University Science Indicators' list of the high impact universities with the most cited research in Materials Science (1996 - 2000) has UNM at No. 5 in the company of USC, Harvard, UC-Santa Barbara and Princeton.

The Institute for Environmental Education is a nationally recognized provider of innovative curriculum and instructional materials. The Institute offers the opportunity for architecture students to teach architecture and design to children in public and private schools as service learners.

The Department of Linguistics is involved in serving the various language communities of New Mexico according to their needs. The work done in Native American communities is, out of necessity, a combination of service and research.

LodeStar's Portable Planetarium is a teaching tool that can be brought right into the classroom or community event. Children view realistic constellation simulations, the planet positions at night, and the sky as it changes through the seasons during a star show in the planetarium.

The Center for Health Law and Ethics develops and administers health policy law and bio-ethics projects. It provides training, research, materials development, and other services to health and legal professionals, legislators and their staff members, and others with an interest in current developments and research in the areas of health law and ethics.

More than 2,400 students take advantage of on-campus living in a wide variety of residence halls and apartment style-quarters. Also, for students living on and off campus and with many and varied interests, there are chartered student organizations for just about interest, from student government to academic honoraries to religious groups, athletic clubs and cultural clubs.

UNM provides a rich cultural resource for the community and the state. Popejoy Hall, located in the Center for the Arts, opened in 1966 and has hosted more than 6 million people at concerts and performances of world-class stature. The community has access to UNM's seven libraries and ten museums and galleries, with exhibits ranging from the arts and anthropology to meteors and moon rocks. UNM's Tamarind Institute is one of the most respected printmaking workshops in the world.

Public television station KNME-TV reaches a wide audience throughout New Mexico. In addition to Emmy and Peabody awards, the station is also the recipient of a National Educational Television Association award for documentary/biography and a PBS Communication Award. Meanwhile, KUNM, the award-winning public radio station, is one of the premier community radio stations in the region.

UNM is a vital contributing member of the New Mexico community and proud of its service to the citizens of this state. The University counts itself fortunate to be part of this community and region.

About UNM and New Mexico

Check out The Lobo Life page for a selection of the adventures that await you in and around UNM!