"In 1951, the rapidly growing population of Las Vegas was demanding teachers for the city's burgeoning schools and an opportunity for local high school graduates to earn a university degree close to home. That year, Nevada's Board of Regents, the governing board of the state's system of higher education, initiated a post-high school program in Las Vegas as an extension branch of the University of Nevada in Reno. Few people at the time anticipated the fledgling institution's remarkable future. With an initial enrollment of twelve full-time students taking evenings-only classes in the cramped dressing rooms of the Las Vegas High School auditorium, the school struggled for survival. It was not until September 10, 1957, that UNLV finally opened for classes on its own campus and began a new era of higher education in the state." "In The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noted historian Eugene P. Moehring recounts UNLV's past half-century of phenomenal growth. Here are the personalities who created and guided the school, from Maude Frazier, the visionary educator who fought to bring higher education to Nevada's southern population, to the professors, administrators, coaches, and other campus personalities who helped to shape the institution, its identity, and its traditions.

Here, too, are the people and controversies that influenced the University's location, goals, programs, and personnel decisions, as well as the significant role played by its students. Moehring also examines the unusual relationship between the University and greater Las Vegas, starting with the 1955 campaign that raised money to purchase land for a permanent campus by sending students door-to-door to solicit donations from the public. The remarkable synergy that has developed since then between UNLV, Las Vegas's business community, and private philanthropists has been instrumental in creating and supporting many of the University's most vital and distinguished academic programs." "Published in conjunction with UNLV'S celebration of its fiftieth anniversary, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is an account of one of the country's most vibrant institutions of higher learning, a major public research university that both reflects and contributes to the booming modern metropolis around it."--BOOK JACKET.