Scholarship Donors Visit Campus

For Release - October 2, 2009

The donors of a scholarship that will chiefly benefit Native American students in pursuit of a career in nursing or other health fields were on campus on October 1 to view a portrait of them that now hangs in the hall leading to the administrative offices in Gurley Hall.

Martin and Craig Rubenstein say they believe that health programs offer local students the best opportunities for obtaining in-demand skills that will allow them to stay close to home after graduation. Further, the associate degree programs are a more realistic choice for students who can’t afford to spend four years seeking a degree, according to the Rubensteins.

Monies for the scholarship have already been channeled into annuities, but most of the funding will come through a binding statement from the Rubensteins that will result in a bequest from their will, said Michael Kingan, senior vice president of the UNM Foundation. Thus, the scholarship funds will not be available until after the Rubensteins are deceased, but the fund is expected to grow to between a half million to a million dollars by the time they are available.

Martin Rubenstein, who arrived in Albuquerque in 1946 after active duty in the South Pacific, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with a pre-law concentration from UNM in 1949. He went on to own a number of auto dealerships in the Dallas area. Craig Rubenstein graduated from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M at Commerce) in 1957. They met in Dallas and married in 1964. After Martin retired, the couple moved to Vail, Colo., and while traveling in western New Mexico, Martin was struck by the difficult living conditions of the American Indians in this region. They continue to spend summers in Santa Fe, staying connected to New Mexico and UNM. The Rubensteins currently reside in Austin.