Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Graham, and Michael Jordan. These leaders in their respective fields all have one thing in common — they're all subjects of books by best-selling author Janet Lowe, '68 BS Business Administration.

Her books include Bill Gates Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Entrepreneur, Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the Word's Greatest Investor, Oprah Winfrey Speaks: Insights from the World's Most Influential Voice, and Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick.

To craft her insightful books, Lowe interviews her subjects, then weaves their words with her own research. Combining the direct quotes with her in-depth knowledge results in a powerful portrait of leaders at the top of their game.

Although most of her interviews are based on recorded conversations, she occasionally has had to adapt her technique to her subject. For example, much of her interaction with Bill Gates took place, appropriately enough, via e-mail. But Lowe did actually meet with him as well, and, "Yes," she says, "I did see his house."

In addition to the Speaks series, Lowe has written extensively on investing and Wall Street. Her other titles include Value Investing Made Easy, Dividends Don't Lie, The Secret Empire, and Keys to Investing in International Stocks. Altogether, she's written 18 books on finance, investment, economics, and key American leaders. Her works have been translated into 17 languages.

Her investment books grew out of her newspaper assignments covering business trends. Although Lowe had long been interested in being a writer, her father insisted she concentrate on a specific subject area in college rather than major in journalism. "He said, "You have to know something well before you can write about it.' So I majored in economics. I was one of the first women graduates from the College of Business. I think there was another woman in accounting at the time."

Lowe launched her career as a freelance writer in 1970. Her economics background propelled her to business reporting and editorial posts at the San Diego Tribune and the San Diego Daily Transcript.

"Perseverance, integrity, and politeness. Those are three things that helped me build my career," says Lowe. As an example she cites her experience with Warren Buffet. He originally declined her request for an interview because three other authors were already working on his biography. She didn't badger him. "Instead, I decided to write a book on his mentor, Benjamin Graham. He was happy to help with that project and soon learned that he could trust me."

Her communication skills have also led to some challenging and fascinating assignments as an intermittent public affairs officer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). When a disaster hits, whether it's a hurricane in Florida, earthquake in California, or typhoon in Guam, Lowe travels to the site to coordinate information for media representatives from all over the world. She was called on to serve as FEMA's public affairs officer at the Pentagon after the 9-11 attack.

Although she's traveled all over the world, Lowe's local ties run deep. She grew up in Goodsprings, just outside Las Vegas, and attended the small schoolhouse there before moving into "town." She got an early start in journalism working on the student paper at Las Vegas High School, where she regularly met celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Wayne Newton. She participated in the Las Vegas Sun's Youth Forum and names the paper's Hank Greenspun and Ruthe Deskin as mentors. University Regent Jack Lund Schofield was one of her teachers.

At UNLV, she was the senior class nominee for the homecoming court while she juggled the roles of student and mother of two. Her own mother, Celesta Lowe, was James Dickinson's first employee at the institution that would eventually become UNLV.

Today, Lowe divides her time between homes in Santa Fe, N.M., and San Diego. She continues to travel extensively and stops back at UNLV when she can to share what she's learned with business students.