José Andrés "Andy" Chacón, was born at Peñasco, NM on August 16, 1925 to Emilia Martinez y Griego and Gregorio Chacón y Baca and is a great-grandchild of the legendary Civil War hero Major Rafael Chacón y Lopez who commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Valverde, south of Socorro, New Mexico.

Andy is a multi-career professional who began his career after graduating from Peñasco High School in 1941. Chacón served in the US Navy, in four naval engagements, as an Aviation Ordnanceman (T) 2/c during WWII surviving the sinking of the USS Ommaney Bay, CVE-79 by the Japanese on 4 January, 1945. The four engagements were; Pelelieu, the Battle for Leyte Gulf, Mindoro, and Lingayen Gulf.

He graduated from West Point, Class of 1951, and was commissioned in the U. S. Air Force. He married his childhood sweetheart María Isabél Durán, also of Peñasco, at the Catholic Chapel at West Point on June 6, 1951. They have three daughters, Dolores Alleva, Cecilia Klevan and Monica Glenn, and three grandchildren Paul and Alex Klevan and Andrew Scott Glenn.

Chacón served in the US Air Force, flying 46 night intruder B-26 combat missions, during the Korean War. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Air Medals and six other awards and decorations, in addition to the Korean Liberation Medal awarded by the Republic of Korea.

He was a Member of Technical Staff at Sandia Labs for 14 years and at the same time served as Chairman of the State Public Welfare Board. During this period, he obtained his Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico. Active in politics, Andy was nominated as State Representative to the State Legislature in the 1956 Democratic primaries. Later he took leave of absence from Sandia and served as Associate Director of the Peace Corps in Peru in 1964-65.

On return to stateside, he served on three White House assignments, as Ex. Dir., President's Committee of Mexican Affairs during the Johnson administration (1968-69) and on the staff of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health in 1969, and as Associate Director for Consumer Education, Office of Consumer Affairs, Office of the President, (1969-70) during the Nixon administration.

Transferring to the Atomic Energy Commission in 1970 he completed the resident course at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Class of 1973. He also completed the requirements for a Doctor's in Business Administration in Administrative Theory and Practice, Economics, Transportation Planning and Information Technology from George Washington University.

Chacón served as Area Manager of the Dayton, Ohio office from 1976 to 1978. He was cited by the Energy Research & Development Administration for his contributions to the Voyager I and Voyager II programs. He also taught Micro and Macro Economics at Wright State University during this period.

Retiring the first time in 1979, he accepted the post of Science and Technology Advisor with the US Agency for International Development for all of Central America on a personal services contract.

Returning to the US in 1981 Chacón taught Management and Economics at both graduate and undergraduate levels at the University of New Mexico, at the College of Santa Fe, at Mt. St. Mary's in Maryland, and for Webster University at Kirtland AFB, at the Naval Air Station, Keflevik, Iceland and at the Naval Air Station, Bermuda.

In 1992, Chacón quit teaching to devote his time to writing, a hobby of his since the 1960s. He has published five books, three in Organizational Behavior by Prentice Hall. The Houston Post, the San Antonio News Express, the Kingsville Record Bishop News and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate have carried his articles.

In July 1994, Chacón returned to UNM as Adjunct Professor at the Anderson Schools of Management teaching Organizational Behavior, Interpersonal Dynamics, Team-Building, and International Management.

He retired again in 1996 and continues to write. Currently he has four titles in progress and is listed in the State of New Mexico TumbleWords Writers Roster.

Andy continues to learn. He is conversant with JAVA, Java Script, Maya, LightWave, Photoshop, After Effects, and Flash MX. He is currently learning "Imagineering" - the blending of creative imagination with technical know-how in the production of low budget animated digital films.

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