In the 1970's, the New Mexico Tech Research Foundation was created to support New
Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) and its students, faculty,
and research. Initially the primary focus of the Research Foundation was to handle
Intellectual Property (IP) developed by the university's professors and researchers.
New Mexico Tech's most notable invention, so far, is the Nicotine Patch, patented in 1986 by NMT Psychology professor Dr. Frank Etscorn. The profits that the Research Foundation received from this transformative invention
have been placed in an endowment, the proceeds of which fund over $700,000 in scholarships
for Tech students every year.
In January 2018, under the auspices of NMT President Stephen G. Wells, the Research
Foundation Trustees voted to turn over IP responsibilities to the New Mexico Tech
Research Corporation and direct the Foundation's attentions exclusively to fundraising.
The new mission of the New Mexico Tech Foundation is to raise money to support faculty,
students, and research at New Mexico Tech.
The Foundation is a separate 501(c)3 with its own Board of Trustees and three to four
board meetings annually.