History Makers: Annette Sobel

DR. ANNETTE SOBEL’S impressive resumé includes military service, teaching, and an appointment as the first woman director of the New Mexico Office of Homeland Security and deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety. In 2024, Sobel earned a patent for a new portable Covid-19 respirator. Now in private practice, she’s currently creating a podcast about women inventors.

PROUDEST MOMENT. In 2008, NATO recognized Sobel for her work to advance the understanding of the science of weapons of mass destruction. “I believe very strongly in service to country,” she says.

FAMILY TIES. Sobel’s grandfather David Steinman immigrated from Latvia and motivated her to continue her education even after her father was diagnosed with cancer. “I wanted to drop out of college to support my family,” she says. “He said, ‘I never had a chance, so you must take it.’ ”

GRANDFATHER OF INVENTION. During the pandemic, she developed a home-use, portable respirator to serve isolated communities, especially Native ones, which was motivated by her grandfather’s inability to afford hospital treatment for tuberculosis. “Because of his experience, I’ll never forget there are those with less,”
she says.

LEADERSHIP LESSONS. “I believe in tolerance and making teaching moments,” says the retired major general in the Arizona and New Mexico Air National Guards. “When I was homeland security director, I formed an interfaith working group to see the other side of [any] problem and come up with collaborative solutions.”

PAYING IT FORWARD. In 2021, Sobel and her husband, Dr. Robert Duncan, started a scholarship at the University of New Mexico for students studying Indigenous health populations. “If you don’t contribute to your community, then it’s not really yours,” she says.