Ammu Devasthali has devoted much of her life to study and to art.
So, it might come as no surprise that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Devasthali in 2019 to New Mexico State University’s board of regents to fill an unexpired term. Devasthali is now the chair.
“I have never felt held back because I am a woman,” Devasthali told the Bulletin. “In this community, nobody has said, ‘You’re different.’”
Devasthali, a native of India, came to Las Cruces from Chicago with her husband, Rama, in 1987.
But before migrating to the U.S., Devasthali earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian language from Nehru University in New Delhi, then pursued a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Soviet literature from Moscow State University in Russia.
Once she and her husband moved to Las Cruces, Devasthali began taking art classes at NMSU while raising her son and daughter. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking then went on to earn a second MFA degree in painting.
Devasthali opened up her own art studio, called Art Ventures, and a jewelry business called Designs by Ammu.
She also became a fierce advocate for the arts and a long-time community activist and philanthropist.
Devasthali has led campaigns to raise millions of dollars to build the Associated Students of New Mexico State University, or ASNMSU, and its Center for the Arts, as well as Devasthali Hall. ASNMSU Center for the Arts houses the Theatre Department and its performing arts spaces while Devasthali Hall is home to the Art Department and the University Art Museum.
Devasthali has also served for more than 13 years as a board member for the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, helping create the SpringBoard scholarship program that gives women in southern New Mexico opportunities for advanced education.
Devasthali said her mother was her “mainstay.”
“She grew up in a culture that wasn’t always kind to women,” Devasthali said.
But, she added, her message to her own children was “advocate for yourself.”
“If you have an idea you truly believe in and you can back it up with action, don’t ever back down,” she said.
Ammu and Rama Devasthali received the 2016 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. Now, as regents chair, Devasthali says she believes in NMSU’s new president, Valerio Ferme. She said he will not balk at “making tough decisions.”
Lujan Grisham reappointed Devasthali to a full six-year term in 2022. She is in her fifth year as board chair.
“I do what I do because I love this university,” Devasthali said.
