Retired UTEP professor dies in desert

Retired UTEP accounting professor Anne Lee Leahey died Saturday while digging for artifacts in the Santa Teresa desert.

Leahy was searching for artifacts near the Santa Teresa Airport when she became separated from her family. Doa Ana County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Mike Kinney said that Leahy collapsed during an outing when temperatures were almost 107 degrees

Deputies believe her death is heat-related.

“We were all shocked,” said Martha Escontrias, an administrative assistant for UTEP’s Department of Accounting. “We will definitely miss her. She was a dedicated instructor and was very well-liked by her students.”

Leahy retired in the spring of 2010. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Elmira College in New York in 1966, and received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Hawaii in 1970. She began teaching at UTEP in 1977.