Memorandum of Agreement Changes Status of UNM Robb Musical Trust

Chair Jim Bonnell and Secretary Carolyn Mountain complete final signatures on the MOA.

September 4, 2008 -- After almost a year of effort, the University of New Mexico and the John Donald Robb Musical Trust signed off on a Memorandum of Agreement which establishes the Trust as a recognized entity in the university environment. The original Trust was established by Dean and Harriet Robb in 1989 to advance Robb’s musical legacy and his commitment to education and the music of the Southwest.

During the past year, an ad-hoc committee has been working to formulate an agreement that mutually advances the concerns of the University and the Trust. President David Schmidly signed off on the document along with other participants in the process with final approval being reached on September 4, 2008. The ad-hoc committee that accomplished the important agreement included Sandra Liggett representing UNM Counsel, Michael Kingan of the UNM Foundation, Dean Christopher Mead of the College of Fine Arts, Belinda Jentzen of the UNM Foundation/CFA Development Office, and John Robb, Marty Mathisen, Bob Tillotson, and Jim Bonnell representing the Robb Trust.

The new Agreement gives definition to relationships for the next 89 years and is significant of the unusual status of the Trust as conceived by Dean Robb. It established a Board of Directors to carry out the responsibilities specifically or implicitly assigned by the Last Will and Testaments of John Donald Robb and Harriet B. Robb to the former Robb Trust Committee and defines additional full operational authority over the affairs of the Trust that could otherwise be the responsibility of the University and the Foundation.