Veteran finds niche studying Biology at UNM
January 12, 2023 - Mary Beth King
Cory Henn was an Iraq war veteran with a career at the New Mexico Corrections Department when he decided to pursue a degree in computer programming. After about a year and a half there he took a biology elective and found his passion, switching to The University of New Mexico to study Biology full time.
The Pennsylvania native joined the United States Air Force under the delayed entry program at the age of 17 and after graduating in 2001, did his basic training. He chose a Security Forces career field, which gave him opportunities to work with weapons and gain law enforcement experience. He was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, working in multiple roles ranging from nuclear and aircraft security to patrolman. In 2003, Henn deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom, then finished his time in the Air Force as a base patrolman and member of the Emergency Response Team. He left the Air Force in 2005 and quickly found a job with the New Mexico Corrections Department.
Henn spent two years as a Correctional Officer at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe. He joined the Corrections Emergency Response Team and gained training in high-risk situations. He was then selected to become a Security Threat Intelligence Unit officer, working with gang investigations both inside the prison and with the New Mexico Gang Task Force. After two years, he went back to the prisons as a sergeant, taking on an instructor role with the emergency response team. In 2014 Henn was recruited again, this time to an executive staff position with the New Mexico Corrections Department, working on recidivism reduction initiatives and helping to foster training opportunities for offenders.
Although well launched in his Corrections career, in 2017 Henn left to pursue an associate degree in Computer Programming at CNM and then switched to UNM after discovering his affinity for Biology. He started his Bachelor of Science degree program in Fall 2019 and worked as an undergraduate in the lab of Biology professor Irene Salinas. He graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors in 2022 and is now a Ph.D. student and immunologist in the Salinas lab.
Read more at UNM Newsroom.
