Famous People from New Mexico

New Mexico, a state in the southwestern region of the United States of America has produced many talents who have made a difference to society. They have shaped their careers brilliantly and made the world proud of them. Let us see some of the famous people from New Mexico.

Bill Richardson: The current Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, was the candidate for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination for the President of the United States. After completing college education, Richardson worked for the Republican Congressman F. Bradford Morse. He then became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He spent more than fourteen years in Congress. He got an opportunity to work with Bill Clinton, who appointed Richardson as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He also served as Clinton's Secretary of Energy in 1998. He chaired the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the Democratic Governors Association. He has always remained a prominent figure on the political scene of the world.

Jeff Bezos: He is the founder, president and CEO of Amazon.com. He is the chairperson of the board of Amazon.com. Bezos is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University. After completing graduation, he worked on Wall Street in the computer science branch. He worked with D.E. Shaw & Co. as a financial analyst. He planned for Amazon.com during his journey from New York to Seattle and launched Amazon.com in 1994. In 1999, Time magazine honored him as the Person of the Year. In 2004, he established Blue Origin, a human space flight startup company. It was Jeff Bezos, who coined the term, 'Artificial Intelligence'. He remains being one of the most prominent names in the world of Internet business.

William Hanna: The American animator, director, producer and cartoon artist, William Hanna, co-founded Hanna-Barbera, with Joseph Barbera. He wanted to become a structural engineer but had to drop out of college on account of the Great Depression. After dropping out of college, he started working as a construction engineer. He lost that job during the Great Depression after which he worked in cartoon studios. Hanna-Barbera produced very famous cartoons like The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstone series, The Jetsons, The Smurfs and the very popular Scooby-Doo series. The studio also produced Tom and Jerry for MGM until 1957 and the Yogi Bear series. The Hanna-Barbera team has received seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. They were proud winners of several other prestigious awards and have earned a huge fan following. The name William Hanna is iconic in the television animation industry.

Clyde Tombaugh: Clyde Tombaugh was an American astronomer, who earned worldwide acclaim for his discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930. His career in astronomy started with him building his first telescope. He sent his observations of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory earning him an employment in the laboratory. After discovering Pluto, he earned degrees in astronomy. From 1955, he worked as a teacher of astronomy at the New Mexico State University until he retired from service. The discovery of many asteroids is attributed to him. Tombaugh was one of the most prominent astronomers to have reported having seen UFOs.

Nancy Lopez: She is an American professional golfer. She was the winner of the New Mexico Women's Amateur at the young age of 12 and of the US Girls' Junior Championship in 1972 and 1974. She had begun exhibiting her flair for golf since a young age. The LPGA Tour of 1978 marked her first full season tour in which she won nine titles including five tournaments. She was the proud winner of the Vare Trophy as also of the titles LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. During the '60s, she was the first player to play all four rounds of the Women's Open. In 1987, Lopez was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. A proud winner of three major championships and 48 LPGA Tour events, Nancy Lopez is one of the best female golf players the world has seen.

New Mexico hosts many important names, which continue to receive appreciation from all round the world. These were only a few of those names.