Tommy Sheppard, ’91, Bachelor of Community Health
Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, NBA Washington Wizards
2018 College of Health and Social Services Distinguished Alumnus
Tommy Sheppard’s favorite memory of NMSU starts in 1990. It was the year in Aggie Athletics, for a young NM State fan and student, he will never forget – the year the NM State Men’s Basketball team defeated UNLV at home in the Pan American Center. It is the same UNLV team that went on to win the national championship later that year.
His love for sports guided him in life. He played football for three seasons at NMSU and worked in the athletic department as a student assistant to the sports information director for two years.
After graduating from NMSU in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in community health, Sheppard started a career working at UNLV as the sports information director until 1994 when he was hired by the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association.
Some 25 years later, he is now the senior vice president of basketball operations for the NBA’s Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital. In this role, he manages salary caps, negotiations, draft preparation and talent evaluation of collegiate athletes and professionals, both domestically and abroad.
To learn more about the NMSU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, visit: http://advancing.nmsu.edu/alumni/awards-and-programs/distinguished-alumni-award
We’re proud of our previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipients:
2017 Sue Gerber
2016 John E. Scarbrough
2015 Sharon Huerta
2014 Christopher M. Ledingham
2013 Margaret McCowen
2012 Diana Fancher
2011 Melanie Goodman
2010 Betty Jean Shinas
2009 Judith Bauer Creegan
2008 Terra Winter
2007 Gena W. Jones
2006 Barbara Joan Bishop
2005 Leonel Briseno
2004 Amer J. Taha
2003 Kathryn M. Autrey
2002 Ann Stege Anderson
2001 Albert Esparsen II
2000 Kay Cargill Jenkins
1999 Madeline Messick
1998 Sharon Levey
1997 Susan Cardenas
1996 Mary Jo Solon
1995 Joel A. Arrigucci
1994 Carol J. Jimenez
1993 Susan Z. Washam
1992 Sarah Alexander Boggs
1991 Sandra Rotruck
1990 Lawrence A. Banegas
1989 Robin Lee Woolley
1988 Carol Smallwood
1987 Fern Dahlgren