Fall 2008

4. The Osher Reentry Scholarship, funded by a $1 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation, serves students who are returning to college after a gap of five or more years in their education. This helps students devote more time to their academic work and eases the financial burden of returning to school.

5. Greenspun Hall, funded in part by the largest single donation in UNLV history, is the new home for the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs. Technologically and environmentally advanced, the building has state-of-the-art production and media facilities, and serves as an anchor for the Midtown UNLV project that is planned to revitalize the Maryland Parkway area.

6. Graduate fellowships benefit the students who receive them while helping advance graduate education programs and research projects with community impact. The President's Graduate Research Fellowship is funded through the Frank Koch Living Trust and enables these students to focus on completing their doctoral degrees. This year's recipients, Robyn Howley of geoscience and Jonathon Foster of history, are now completing their dissertations based on the research they were able to gather as a result of the fellowships.

7. More than 6,800 alumni have made gifts to the Invent the Future campaign. "Alumni comprise the greatest number of donors in the campaign," says Nancy Strouse, executive director of the UNLV Foundation and senior associate vice president for development. "No other segment of our constituency has responded with so many donors to the effort to raise private funds than our graduates."

8. Cheri Young, an associate professor in the Hotel College, teaches her students about organizational behavior and studies environments that help employees thrive. Private support from the Harrah's Foundation, part of its $30 million gift to the university in 2007, helps fund her latest project, which brings undergraduate students into the research of employee engagement.

9. A gift from the Bruce Layne Family will support a supercomputing consortium aimed at curing neurodegenerative disorders. Layne, '69 BSBA, is a longtime community leader and UNLV Foundation trustee. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1999. The donation was facilitated by the University of Nevada Health Sciences System and will foster a partnership among UNLV, the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute.

10. The Classified Staff Development Fund, funded entirely by donations from the UNLV Foundation's Annual Fund, provides stipends to classified staff to be able to complete professional development opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. The funds are awarded twice each year for such things as noncredit courses, seminars, and dues for work-related professional organizations.

11. Graduate students in the nursing program are able to set aside full-time work during their studies with help from fellowships funded by Sierra Health Services. The added financial support allows the nurses to focus on advanced education and research.

12. For the past two years, students and faculty from the College of Fine Arts represented UNLV at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia, thanks to a student opportunity fund established by former Vaudeville actress Mary Healy Hayes. The collaboration of music, dance, and theatre students and faculty to develop these performances makes the experience unique for the participants and allows the college to share its talent with an international audience.

13. The Libraries' Award for Undergraduate Research, endowed by Lance and Elena Calvert, recognizes successful student research projects. Today's college students must master the art of targeted research, and the award recognizes students who use their critical thinking skills to navigate the vast amounts of information available to them. Up to four students are selected each year for their professionalism and originality in completing their research with library resources.

14. Holly Walker, a 2007 National Merit finalist, is the inaugural recipient of the MGM MIRAGE Academic Excellence Scholarship, which covers the full cost of four years at UNLV. The award, the largest corporate scholarship endowment in UNLV's 50-year history, will help Walker pursue a double major in engineering and psychology, and bring her one step closer to her career goal of becoming a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

15. Students in the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration are linked with hospitality industry internships and other opportu nities through the Bob Boughner Career Services Center, named for the alumnus and industry leader who funded the new program.

16. The Thomas & Mack Moot Court Facility at the William S. Boyd School of Law supports trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, and Kids' Court programs. The state-of-the-art facility includes a courtroom and 100-seat auditorium for argument simulations and general teaching. The facility also serves the community by hosting proceedings for the Nevada Supreme Court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

17. For sophomore soccer player — and under-20 men's national team member — Danny Cruz, a college education is his key to success. As a first-generation college student, Cruz is completing his undergraduate degree and plans to pursue a career in law. As a recipient of an athletic scholarship, Cruz can focus on his university experience to make the most of his academic and athletic abilities.

18. The College of Fine Arts' Liberace Scholarship Quartet earned first place at the prestigious 46th annual Reno Jazz Festival this year. Among the quartet are musicians receiving support from the Liberace Foundation, an organization founded by the performance icon in 1976 to support the arts and encourage young artists nationwide. The foundation has awarded UNLV more support for student musicians than it has given to any other university. It is currently providing scholarships to eight students.

19. The Mendenhall Innovation Program pairs the analytic components of engineering with the practical tools of marketing. With a lecture series and technology commercialization minor, the program helps students understand the early stages of product conception and development and gain necessary business skills from faculty and practitioners. The program was funded by entrepreneur Robert Mendenhall, who hopes that it will give students the tools to bring their working models into the complex world of business.

20. The addictions treatment program in the College of Education has received more than $30,000 for student scholarships from the Foundation for Recovery. Undergraduates enrolled in this program focus their studies in counselor education on gaming and substance abuse prevention and treatment.