David J. Schmidly

David James Schmidly (born December 20, 1943) was installed as 20th president of the University of New Mexico on October 7, 2007. On April 22, 2011, Schmidly announced his decision to retire as UNM's President at the end of his five-year contract in 2012.

Previously, Schmidly served as CEO and 17th president of the Oklahoma State University System (2002–2007). Before coming to OSU, he was the President of Texas Tech University, where he also served as Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School.

A native of Levelland, Texas and an accomplished zoologist, he earned his B.S. and M.S. in zoology at Texas Tech University, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity, and his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Illinois. He has been inducted into the Texas Hall of Fame for Science, Mathematics and Technology and has a species of deer mouse named for him, Peromyscus schmidlyi.

Schmidly was criticized while at OSU for his decision to use eminent domain to raze a low-income neighborhood in Stillwater to build a new athletic village using a gift of $165 million from Boone Pickens. For some in the OSU community, the emphasis that Schmidly placed on athletics far outweighed his concern about academics.

The Oklahoma State University Faculty Senate called for Schmidly's resignation over the size of severance packages offered to former staffers from Texas Tech that Schmidly had hired at OSU.

One of Schmidly's first acts as president of the University of New Mexico was to halt an official investigation into complaints of a hostile learning environment in the University's English Department. The investigation involved Associate Professor Lisa D. Chavez, who had been moonlighting as a phone sex worker on various bondage and sadomasochism websites with current and former graduate students. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Schmidly authorized the use of an outside attorney, who was tasked with investigating Chavez's complaints against faculty members she accused of discrimination and slander.

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