Table of Contents      
RGF Mission Statement
RGF Policies
RGF Board of Directors
RGF Staff

Mission Statement

The Rio Grande Foundation is a research institute dedicated to increasing liberty and prosperity for all of New Mexico's citizens. We do this by informing New Mexicans of the importance of individual freedom, limited government, and economic opportunity.

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Policies

• The Rio Grande Foundation does not endorse or oppose either directly or indirectly any candidate for public office.
  
• The Foundation does not contribute to campaigns.
  
• The Foundation does not participate or engage in political fund raising events or otherwise solicit contributions to any candidate's campaign.
  
• The Foundation does not distribute statements for or against any particular candidate.
  
• The Foundation does not engage in any other activity that may favor or oppose a candidate.

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Board of Directors

President
Paul J. Gessing
pgessing [at] riograndefoundation [dot] org

Secretary
Ben Alaimo-Monson
ben [dot] alaimo [at] gmail [dot] com

Treasurer
Victor S. Bruno
vic [at] vicbrunoco [dot] com

Members
Peter Howley
peter [dot] howley [at] empiricalpath [dot] com

Elisabeth Keen
cudneye [at] comcast [dot] net

Jack Swickard
jswickard [at] gmail [dot] com

Doug Turner
dwturner [at] dwturner [dot] com

Deane Waldman
dwaldman [at] thesystemmd [dot] com

Board of Legal Advisers
Sealy H. Cavin
Board Recognized Specialist in Oil & Gas Law

Stratton & Cavin, PA
Albuquerque, NM

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Staff

President
Paul J. Gessing
pgessing [at] riograndefoundation [dot] org

Paul Gessing became the first full-time President of the Rio Grande Foundation in March of 2006. Since joining the Foundation, Gessing has been a prominent voice for limited government and individual liberties in policy areas including: Constitutional liberties, taxes, health care, education, and transportation.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Gessing headed up the lobbying efforts of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) a respected taxpayer-advocacy organization in Washington, DC.

He has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, US News & World Reports, The Albuquerque Journal and several other major publications. He writes for and appears regularly in media outlets around New Mexico. Paul has also testified in Congress and before a variety of state and local bodies.

Paul graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a degree in Political Science in 1997 and he received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maryland in 2005.

Paul and his wife Krista were married in October 2007 in Algodones, NM and welcomed their first child, Grace, into the world in January 2010. Paul is active in Toastmasters and with the Albuquerque Business TIPS club. In his spare time, Paul enjoys hiking and walking with the family dogs, playing basketball, golf and traveling.

Senior Fellow
Harry Messenheimer, PhD
hmessenheimer [at] earthlink [dot] net

Harold C. "Harry" Messenheimer, Ph.D.: Dr. Messenheimer received his M.A. from Virginia Tech in 1980 and his Ph.D. from George Mason University in 1989. He is a research associate at the Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University. He has taught at the University of Richmond and George Mason University, specializing in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, the economics of taxes and production of public policy. From 1991 through 1993 he served as economic advisor to Commissioner William P. Albrecht (acting Chairman) at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Dr. Messenheimer has written on applications of economics to collective decisions.

Adjunct Fellow
Thomas Molitor
tgmolitor [at] comcast [dot] net

Thomas Molitor has 25 years of progressively increasing experience in corporate communications, public affairs, and business development.

Prior to joining the Rio Grande Foundation, Thomas held senior management positions with corporate communication holding companies such as OmniCom, Publicis, and InterPublic, where his work was published by the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business School. Thomas holds degrees in both economics and marketing from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a regular columnist on NMPolitics.net.

Adjunct Fellow
J. Scott Moody, M.A.
jsmoody [at] pubchoiceanalytics [dot] com

J. Scott Moody has worked as a Tax Policy Economist for over 13 years. He is the author, co-author and editor of over 100 studies and books. He has testified twice before the House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress as well as various state legislatures. He has been interviewed by countless newspapers and radio and television stations. His work has appeared in Forbes, CNN Money, State Tax Notes, Portland Press Herald, New Hampshire's Union Leader, Hartford Courant, the Oklahoman and Albuquerque Journal.

His professional experiences includes a positions as Senior Economist at the Tax Foundation, Senior Economist at the Heritage Foundation, Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist at the Maine Heritage Policy Center, Senior Fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and Research Fellow at several other free-market think tanks.

Scott received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wingate University (Wingate, N.C.). He received his Master of Arts in Economics from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).

Major policy contributions include:

• Developed policy program for SPN think tank as former Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist at The Maine Heritage Policy Center.
• Developed the tax Foundation's first Federal Individual Income Tax Micro-Simulation Model.
• Developed framework for state-level Individual Income Tax Micro-Simulation Models.
• Co-developer of the Tax Foundation's “State Business Tax Climate Index.”
• Operationalized the Tax Foundation's statistically matched database between IRS and CPS data—results published in the “Putting a Face on America's Tax Returns” report series.
• Author of the Tax Foundation's “Tax Freedom Day” for five years.
• Editor of the Tax Foundation's “Facts and Figures on Government Finance” for four years.

Adjunct Fellow
Kevin D. Rollins
kevin [dot] d [dot] rollins [at] gmail [dot] com

Kevin D. Rollins is an Adjunct Fellow at the Rio Grande Foundation. He holds an MA in economics from George Mason University. He serves as Executive Vice President at InnoSci Technologies, Inc, a technology and research startup and as Managing Editor of Econ Journal Watch, a leading scholarly journal that critiques practices within academic economics. He was a 2008-2009 graduate student fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Additionally, Kevin sits on the board of the Liberty Coalition, a 501(c4) organization dedicated to protecting civil liberties and personal privacy. He blogs at FreeLiberal.com and KevinRollins.com.

Adjunct Fellow
Deane Waldman
dwaldman [at] thesystemmd [dot] com

Deane Waldman, MD, MBA was educated and trained at: Yale, Chicago Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Northwestern, Harvard, and Anderson Management Schools. He has been Chief of Section at San Diego Children's, University of Chicago and University of New Mexico, as well as a practicing pediatric cardiologist for over 35 years. He has authored over 100 academic publications as well as numerous lay articles and blogs on the practice of medicine as well as the management of and strategy for health care delivery. In his book – Uproot U.S. Healthcare – Deane shares insights into the root causes of why the healthcare system consistently fails patients, providers, and our country alike. Most important, the book shows why the public and only the public can and must fix healthcare.

Adjunct Fellow
Wendy P. Warcholik, Ph.D.
wendywarcholik [at] pubchoiceanalytics [dot] com

Dr. Wendy P. Warcholik has worked as an Economist in public policy settings for over 13 years. She has extensive experience in applying statistical and econometric tools in public policy paradigms.

Her professional experience includes positions as Economist at the Bureau of Economic Analysis in Washington, D.C., Chief Forecasting Economist for the Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Medical Assistance Services, Adjunct Scholar with the Tax Foundation, and Research Fellow at The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. In addition, she is a Research Fellow at several U.S. free-market think tanks. She has taught numerous economics classes to MBA students.

She received her Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University. While pursuing her Ph.D., she was a Bradley research fellow and affiliated scholar with Nobel Laureate James Buchanan's Center for the Study of Public Choice. Her dissertation required the creation and analysis of a panel dataset for 30 variables for all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) over a ten-year period.

Major policy contributions include:

• Principal architect of the Tax Foundation's first edition of the State Business Tax Climate Index.
• Rebuilt the State of Virginia's Medicaid forecasting models.
• Led efforts to use the Tax Foundation's matched IRS/Census database to produce a stream of reports as part of the Putting a Face on America's Tax Returns project.

Adjunct Fellow
William Patrick Leonard
wpatleon [at] gmail [dot] com

William Patrick Leonard is Advisor on Higher Education Policy at the Rio Grande Foundation. He is Dean of the Academic and Student Services at the Solbridge International School of Business in Daejong, Korea. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Communication from the University of Pittsburgh and a MBA from Loyola University of Chicago. He has served in an array of senior leadership posts-dean library and learning resources, deputy chief academic and student affairs officer, academic and student affairs officer, campus CEO and college CEO. Leonard as has served in Guatemala, Germany, United Arab Emirates and currently Korea. In order to stay in tune with his institutions' teaching mission, he has taught, on a part-time basis, business courses throughout his administrative career. His essays and reviews number over 145 and have appeared in a number of professional journals.

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