Beginning as a student in 1988 at an old New Mexico State University campus in Carlsbad, Justin Bannister never expected NMSU to be the place he’d shine most in his adult life.
Bannister transferred to NMSU’s main campus in Las Cruces after his first year and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications. Once graduated, he left for El Paso to pursue television as a reporter and producer.
After spending a little over three years in El Paso, he traveled back to Las Cruces to further his career and pursue new professional possibilities.
“… that career path [television] usually … you want to jump to bigger and bigger markets. So, I was at the point in my career where I should probably start looking around to go to bigger markets,” Bannister said.
Bannister shared that he “accidentally” got hired at NMSU. While seeking jobs around the Las Cruces area, he discovered a spokesperson position at a high school in Sunland Park that required a recommendation. Bannister thought there was no better place to obtain this reference than from a past employer at his former student job at NMSU.
When picking up his reference letter, Bannister caught the attention of a staff member who recognized him from his past broadcasts as a reporter. She offered him the chance to apply for a position at the university as a communications specialist.
“I said, well, okay — maybe. So, I continued pursuing the job at the Gadsden Independent School District, but also applied here at NMSU,” Bannister said. “I did not get the job at Gadsden, but did get the job here at NMSU, which was very serendipitous, because the job at Gadsden was eliminated after a year and a half.”
Bannister has worked for almost 20 years at NMSU. Beginning as a communications specialist, Bannister worked his way up to Associate Vice President in the Marketing and Communications office. After many years of overseeing marketing and communications duties in this department, he was promoted to Chief of Staff for the NMSU president’s office earlier this year.
Bannister looks forward to carrying out tasks set by NMSU President Valerio Ferme by working alongside various units across campus.
“My role as Chief of Staff includes several responsibilities. Most importantly, I serve as an advisor to President Ferme,” Bannister shared. “I also oversee several departments, working closely with the leaders in Marketing and Communications; Government and Community Relations; Public Safety; and the Office of Institutional Equity.”
The new Chief of Staff anticipates supporting NMSU’s land grant mission and continuing to recruit more students to NMSU. Bannister also plans to work towards further prioritizing NMSU’s stakeholders.
“I’ve been fortunate to work for NMSU for almost two decades,” he said. “In that time, I think the most rewarding thing has been seeing first-hand how the university benefits our students and communities around New Mexico.”
