<P> NMSU was ranked 198th in the national universities category and tied for 106th among public universities by U.S. News & World Report (USN&WR) in its 2018 rankings . Also, in 2017, USN&WR ranked the College of Engineering's graduate program as tied for 133rd, the Nursing School tied for 142nd, and the College of Education's graduate program tied for 146th in the nation . </P> <P> The University of Southern California's Center for Urban Education named NMSU as one of the top 25 institutions with "effective practices for increasing the number of Latino recipients" of bachelor's degrees in the STEM--science, technology, engineering and math--fields . </P> <P> Campuspride.org ranks NMSU 4 out of 5 stars for LGBT friendliness . </P> <P> New Mexico State University is ranked by the National Science Foundation among United States colleges and universities with high research and development, and is among the top institutions without a medical school in terms of R&D expenditures . Most early research followed mandates of the founding legislation of land - grant colleges by generating knowledge useful in agriculture and engineering . Over time, however, research has expanded from this focus on applied natural sciences to include all disciplines of the university . </P>

When was new mexico state university founded and by whom