Dr. Everett Frost Obituary
It is with profound sadness that we announce the October 21, 2024, death of Dr. Everett Frost, professor of Anthropology and President Emeritus of Eastern New Mexico University. Dr. Frost came to Eastern New Mexico University in 1970 as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Over the years he served as Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dean of Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies, and Vice President for Planning and Analysis and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research before becoming the university’s eighth president in 1991. He retired in 2001, but continued to occasionally teach anthropology classes. He and his wife Jan, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, were always strong supporters of the Anthropology and Applied Archaeology program and all things Eastern.
As president, he led Eastern to the prestigious Pew Leadership Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education and launched the freshmen seminar program, the first in the state of New Mexico and still a powerful program for student success and retention. A valued consultant to New Mexico’s Higher Education Department, Dr. Frost excelled at budget modeling and projections and was an astute observer of the politics of New Mexico and national higher education trends.
Consummate academician, guru of governance, mentor and friend to so many, Dr. Frost will be deeply missed, and his many contributions to the University and New Mexico higher education not forgotten.
No memorial services will be held. An obituary will be shared later by the family. Contributions in Dr. Frost’s memory may be made to the ENMU General Scholarship Fund.
He is survived by Dr. Janet Frost of their home; two daughters, Noreen Frost of Portales and Joyce Frost- Wolf and husband, Nick of Albuquerque; and two sisters, Dorothy Fury of East Lansing, MI and Virginia Williams of Omaha, NE. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother Douglas Frost.
