Past SPY Winners

• 2009 - Manny Campos, Jr.
• 2008 - Russell Stone
• 2007 - Margo Maher
• 2006 - Randy Fellhoelter
• 2004 - Frank Perez
• 2003 - Bob Roehm

Meet the 2008-2009 New Mexico Chapter Safety Professional of the Year Award Recipient!

Congratulations to Manuel (Manny) Campos Jr. as the New Mexico ASSE Chapter Safety Professional of the Year for 2008-2009.

Manny (right) accepts the 2008-2009 New Mexico Chapter Safety Professional of the Year Award from Chapter President Mike Kemp.

Our SPY was instrumental in setting up the Zia Section in Las Cruces and organizing their first PDC, September 30-October 2 with a golf tournament on September 29.

Manny is currently with the City of Las Cruces as a Safety Officer. His major job duties include leading the city's efforts for creating and nurturing a safety culture by managing their endeavors for VPP recognition, and directly mentoring assigned departments (currently police, utilities, legal and public works).

The best part of his job is seeing the results of his work when employees seek more knowledge, but also knowing that any particular day that he helps someone do their job and offer guidance, safety may have been the reason for them going home to their families.

Manny has over 20 years experience in private and public positions from construction to NM OSHA. He has 10 years as an ASSE member.

He got into safety by accident. After an auto accident, he dropped out of college and was applying the technical study from college while working QC/safety for a construction contractor at White Sands (3.5 years). The rest is history.

Manny’s hobbies include motorcycles, family, safety as a whole, and ASSE. He is active in his church and also enjoys speaking to kids of all ages, whether it is for career day or other kinds of mentoring.

He is the past treasurer of the Paso Del Norte Chapter and is currently chair of the Zia Section.

Manny is married (15 years in July) with 3 children (22, 13 and 9 years of age) and he is the proud granddad of a 20 month old granddaughter.

Meet our 2008 NM Chapter SPY, Russell Stone

Russell receives his Safety Professional of the Year award from Ken Powell at the April PDC.

Russell admits that he came into the profession a little late in life. His first job was selling orthopedic implants (hips and knees) and trauma equipment for a company in Albuquerque. He and his wife also owned their own small business doing wood working, specializing in handcrafted toys made from their own designs and crafted from North American hardwoods. They travelled around the West and Southwest going to arts and crafts shows in places such as Santa Monica, CA; Beverly Hills, CA; San Francisco, CA; Vail, CO; Beaver Creek, CO; and Scottsdale, AZ. In Albuquerque
they sold their toys at the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair and Weems Arts and Crafts
Fair, as well as a few other interesting places.

In 1993, they decided it was time for a change and Russell got a job working for Los Alamos Credit Union in Los Alamos. A year later he joined Radian Corporation as a Project Administrator. He completed his Bachelor's degree while working for Radian, a BS in Environmental Management and Business Administration. While still working for Radian, Russell entered the CMSU Masters program and completed that in 1999.

Russell has worked as a Site Safety Officer on several environmental cleanups including the excavation of the chemical waste landfill at Sandia National Laboratory. He has worked on beryllium sampling projects for DOD, DOE, and private sector clients, and also worked as a construction site safety officer.

Russell with Tony Martinez, AIHA Chapter President, at the PDC.

Russell was hired by LANL in 2004 and has worked in an R&D laboratory environment
since then, providing both IH and safety support.

As for ASSE, Russell was elected as the Vice President of the NM Chapter in 2002, served as President Elect in 2003-04 as well as chairing the committee that put on the 2004 Chapter PDC, served as President during 2004-05, and delegate for 2005-07. In
May of 2006, he formed a committee in Los Alamos to re-establish the Section there. The Los Alamos Section started hosting technical meetings in January 2007 and Russell served as the first Section Chair from January 2007 through June 2008.

Currently, Russell is the point of contact for the Chapter website and is also serving on the Region II Financial Independence Task Force.

Russell and his wife have a small piece of property in southern Colorado that they enjoy visiting and they often vacation in the same area. They hope to build a house on the property some day soon. Russell enjoys reading (currently reading through the Louis L'Amour collection his parents gave him), running, golfing (something he doesn’t get to do very often). Russell is also a dedicated Dallas Cowboys fan. He has played and umpired softball for the men's slow pitch softball league in Los Alamos. Russell is currently the President of his Homeowner's Association (a thankless job) and his favorite color, if he has one, is blue. Good choice, Russell!

2007 New Mexico Chapter Safety Professional of the Year Award


Margo Maher accepts the 2007 SPY Award from New Mexico Chapter President, Bob Edgar at the 2007 Professional Development Conference.

Meet Margo A. Maher

We are proud to have Margo as our 2007 Safety Professional of the Year. She is the consummate professional. She has done so much for the safety and health of all New Mexico by training and educating people in both the private and public sectors. Always willing to share her expertise and help others, Margo is at the forefront of any new issues. When she sees a need or a problem, she gets organized and brings the resources to get it done. County jail a safety and health hazard?...get it closed. New terrorist threats from WMD?....get certified to present the Homeland Security training locally. Margo has a true can-do attitude.

Her Service to ASSE and Professional Groups
Margo served six years on the ASSE Professional Development Committee at a time when the committee developed the National Professional Safety Academy. She was also the liaison to the Publishing task force. She served two years on the ASSE Financial Committee and received the National Culbertson Award for meritorious service.

Margo’s 8-hour workshop entitled, “The Safety Professional’s Role in Corporate Disaster Preparedness” is very popular and she taught it at several National ASSE Professional Development Conferences to sold-out attendance.

At the local New Mexico Chapter, she is a Past Chapter President. Margo has served on most of the Professional Development Conference planning committees and organized numerous training sessions on various topics throughout the state. She always knows of a resource we can use….no matter what the topic or need. With her involvement in the contractor community, Margo always heads up the exhibits and manages the hotel arrangements. She is a valuable resource for suggestions to make operations more efficient. Our Professional Development Conferences are high quality because of Margo.

Margo has been active on the Bernalillo County/City of Albuquerque Local Emergency Planning Committee and the New Mexico Society of Hazardous Material Managers.

Her Professional Career
Margo has worked in both the public and private sectors.

Her Education
Margo has twenty-nine years of experience in the safety and environmental arena. Starting with her formal education in Michigan and Ohio in journalism and marketing from Michigan Sate University and Cleveland Community College, she followed up with professional EH&S courses at various institutions and continually pursues her life long passion of learning.

Her Hobbies and Interests
She is a passionate instructor for the Federal Highway Watch training program and Office of Homeland Security’s Weapons of Mass Destruction course as well as FEMA’s USA Freedom Corps Community Emergency Response Team.

In her spare time, Margo loves to write, fly fish (not at the same time though), participate in the New Mexico Enchanted Lens Camera Club activities and is most proud of her graduation as Valedictorian from the Old Town Optimists Clown School where she developed her clown skills and frequently performs as “Tootsie”, “Flash” the fire clown and “Maddie” the hazmat clown. As a 16-year cancer survivor, Margo is always prepared to support and counsel others facing cancer challenges.

Margo is a humble individual and a lot of fun to work with. Thanks Margo, for all that you do to advance the safety profession.