“I know how to solve your problem.” For Richard L. Leza ’73, that conviction has been a guiding force throughout his life: first sparked by a challenge from a college admissions officer, later tested by skeptics in the business world, and ultimately proven through a career spent tackling challenges across engineering, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Today, Leza is applying that same problem‑solving mindset to something that matters deeply to him: how to prepare the next generation of Aggie engineers for a rapidly changing world. Through his generous support of the new College of Engineering complex at New Mexico State University, he and his wife, Cindy, are helping shape environments where students can succeed. Central to that effort is the Richard L. Leza Learning Center, a dedicated hub for tutoring, mentoring, collaboration, and student support, designed to strengthen academic success and serve generations of engineering graduates.

Turning Risk into Resolve, Resolve into Opportunity

Born in Laredo, Texas and raised in Hatch, New Mexico, Leza was the fourth of ten children. His mother insisted that every one of them finish high school, even in a school where minority dropout rates exceeded 70 percent — and they did. Leza graduated from Hatch Valley High School in 1965.

After a two‑year battle with abdominal cancer in his early twenties, Leza and his wife moved to Las Cruces, where the warmer climate and NMSU offered a fresh start. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from NMSU in 1973. Engineering taught him how to solve problems; surviving cancer taught him not to fear bold decisions.

Leza began his career by blending engineering and computing, contributing to seismic simulation work on classified defense projects. His appetite for learning led him to earn an MBA from Stanford University, after which he moved into business and international operations. He would go on to build and guide nearly 20 startups across industries ranging from medical devices and analytics to early biotech.

“Richard Leza’s story reflects what is possible when talent, determination, and opportunity come together,” said David Jáuregui, Ph.D., P.E., interim dean of the NMSU College of Engineering. “As an NMSU graduate, he fully leveraged his education, developing essential skills we strive to instill in our students, and became a trailblazer across engineering, technology, and entrepreneurship.”

A Commitment to Giving Back

Leza often distills success into three essential forces: education, personal connections, and understanding risk. “Even after graduating, you keep learning, or you stop growing.”

For more than three decades, Leza has donated 10 to 20 percent of his annual income to philanthropy, supporting roughly 25 organizations each year through the Leza Foundation. His giving is guided by a belief that education opens doors, and that service strengthens both students and communities.

That belief also drew him to initiatives like Aggies Without Limits, where students apply engineering solutions to real‑world challenges in developing communities. “They were already learning how to give back before they had even graduated,” Leza said. “That mattered to me.”

Why Engineering, and Why Now

Leza’s philanthropy is now focused on the new NMSU College of Engineering complex, replacing Thomas & Brown Hall and redefining how engineers are educated. The complex will house the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, state‑of‑the‑art research and teaching labs, an expanded capstone design space, and the Richard L. Leza Learning Center, designed to strengthen academic support and foster collaboration across disciplines.

For Leza, place shapes possibility. “It’s because of my mother,” he said. “She always told me, ‘Never forget where you came from.’”

In his book Leza’s Memoirs: Beating the Odds, Leza emphasizes a core message: “Whether you’re continuing your education, pursuing a dream job or following your entrepreneurial spirit, it has to start from within you.”

He wants minority students to hear that message loud and clear, to know that self-belief, hard work and education can override even the steepest odds. His advice is firm: “Believe in yourself, don’t fear opportunities and let education be your advantage.”

A Legacy That Invites Others In

Leza’s support of the College of Engineering is both personal and forward‑looking, an invitation to others to help build the spaces where future Aggies will learn, imagine, and lead.

“His impact on the College of Engineering is both broad and lasting, strengthening student organizations, supporting faculty excellence, and advancing the spaces where our students learn and collaborate,” said Jáuregui. “Most importantly, his legacy will inspire future generations of Aggie engineers. Through the Richard L. Leza Learning Center, our students, particularly those from rural communities, will see what is possible, reflecting the very best of NMSU’s land-grant mission and the transformative power of education.”

If you can trace part of your success to an NMSU mentor, lab, or classroom where something clicked, you understand why environments matter. Now is the moment to help build what’s next.

Engineer the future. Invest in the new NMSU College of Engineering at https://alwaysanaggie.org/donate/thomas-and-brown/.