NEW MEXICO, UNIVERSITY OF

public, coeducational institution of higher learning, situated on the eastern mesa of Albuquerque, N.M., U.S. It offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. The university's schools and colleges include those of liberal arts, education, engineering, fine arts, architecture and planning, public administration, nursing, pharmacy, management, law, and medicine. It has the only schools of medicine, law, and architecture in the state. Academic specialities include Southwest Americana and Latin-American studies. There are branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, and in Valencia county and graduate centres in Los Alamos and Santa Fe. Tamarind Institute, founded in 1970, has made important contributions to the field of lithography. Other areas of university research include meteorites, optoelectronics, engineering, robotics, nuclear power, and ceramics. There are approximately 25,000 students on the rolls. The University of New Mexico was created by an act of the New Mexico Territorial Legislature in 1889. It began instruction in 1892, emphasizing a curriculum of liberal arts, sciences, literature, and teacher training; high school courses were discontinued in 1919. The law school opened in 1948 and the medical school in 1964. Most of the campus buildings reflect the architectural influence of New Mexico's Pueblo Indian and Hispanic cultures.