Another emeritus faculty member has been busy writing. Jerome "Jerry" Vallen has written a history of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration he helped found in 1969. Joining him in the literary effort is his wife of 54 years, Flossie, an honorary member of the Hotel College. The teamwork evident in the book is representative of the 22 years that the Vallens gave to the development of the school.
Hotels are businesses, so it is not surprising that education in hotel management grew out of the business program at UNLV. In the beginning, the university's Division of Business, as it was then called, offered courses that attracted businesspeople from the local hotel community.
In 1966, the division introduced a degree in hotel administration in a "program" with an acting head. Jerry Vallen, one of three people in the country with a doctorate in hotel management, was soon hired as the permanent program director. The details of his hiring, including his assessment of the burgeoning program, are in the book.
It soon was clear that education in hotel administration was something special at UNLV; Vallen reported directly to the vice president for academic affairs, rather than to the director of the Division of Business. When colleges were created in a campus reorganization in 1971, the College of Hotel Administration was one of them.
To put the book together, the Vallens interviewed a long list of former faculty, administrators, and students to collect anecdotes about the founding and growth of the future college.
"Interviewees were across the spectrum," Jerry says. "We made many special occasions by setting the interview around a luncheon, many of them at our home. So the interviewee brought a spouse, which added to the interaction. And Flossie and I handled our reminiscings as if they, too, were interviews."
The result has a special charm with stories from former associates that a more formal history might have missed.
