Two New Mexico Attorneys Appointed to UNM Board of Regents
January 7, 2015 - Tamara Williams
Governor Susana Martinez selected two attorneys to the Board of Regents for UNM and reappointed Jamie Koch, who has served on the Board for the last 12 years.
Matt Chandler is a Clovis-based lawyer at Chandler Law Firm who previously served as District Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District of New Mexico from 2004-2014. He completed his final year of law school at the UNM School of Law.
Robert Doughty III is a lawyer with the Albuquerque firm of Doughty, Alcaraz, & deGraauw, P.A. and currently serves as chairman of the New Mexico Racing Commission. He is a graduate of the UNM Law School (‘1998).
“The individuals I am nominating today come from a variety of backgrounds and are well-suited to help manage our state’s universities,’ Martinez said. “They will provide thorough financial oversight and planning for these institutions, and I am confident they will adopt reforms designed to graduate our students more quickly and prepare them for the workforce New Mexico needs.”
All three appointees to the seven-member board are subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
More about the Appointees
Matt Chandler is a longtime New Mexico public servant. At Chandler Law Firm, he focuses on family and employment law, estate planning, and complex litigation.
Chandler previously served as District Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District of New Mexico from 2004-2014. He was the youngest District Attorney to be elected in New Mexico at the age of 27 and has over 12 years of prosecutorial experience. During his tenure, Chandler was appointed Special Prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office and assisted in the investigation, indictments, and convictions of dozens of members of the white supremacist gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood.
Chandler is admitted to the New Mexico Bar and licensed to practice in state and federal courts. While competing for the UNM Law School’s Mock Trial team, he was awarded “Top Advocate” at the Regional Mock Trial Competition in Spokane, Washington. In 2000 and 2001, he led UNM’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) program, a faith-based student athlete ministry with a focus on devotion, integrity, serving, and teamwork. Chandler holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Eastern New Mexico University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Robert Doughty III brings decades of service to New Mexico and his community. His law firm, Doughty, Alcaraz, & deGraauw, P.A., focuses primarily on civil claims and litigation in the areas of insurance defense, governmental entity representation, risk management, personal injury, construction defect, and medical malpractice, among others.
Doughty is admitted to the New Mexico Bar, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
He was appointed to the New Mexico Racing Commission in 2011, where he currently serves as Chairman. While on the Commission, Doughty has been a strong reformer, raising standards for racing conduct and cracking down on the doping of racehorses. He also serves on the board of directors for the Rocky Mountain District of the Lutheran Church. Doughty holds a Bachelor of Criminal Justice from New Mexico State University and a Juris Doctorate from UNM.
Jamie Koch has been a member of the UNM Board of Regents for 12 years, and is a longtime New Mexico public servant. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee and the Lobo Development Corporation. In recent years, Koch has shown strong leadership in financial oversight and has championed reforms designed to increase the number of graduates at the university and decrease the number of years it takes students to earn their degree. He previously served as a state legislator and was an original author of the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. Koch is the former President of Daniels Insurance and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of New Mexico.
