Transforming Nevada and Beyond for 25 Years

In August 1998, the William S. Boyd School of Law opened after years of discussions, advocacy and feasibility studies. Our silver anniversary has allowed us to look back and celebrate the people who created Boyd Law and commemorate the history of our school.

Through the efforts of Assemblyman Morse Arberry, Jr., the Nevada Legislature approved $500,000 to support the planning of a law school in June 1995. President Carol Harter used those funds to put together a planning committee and hire consultants to develop a plan for the law school. 

Community support from Honorable Philip M. Pro (Ret.), Barbara Buckley, Frances Forsman, Jim
Rogers, the Thomas and Mack families, and Mike and Sonja Saltman, among others, showed the legislature that the community backed this law school and helped secure the required funding.

A transformational gift from William S. Boyd and the Boyd family, which has contributed $31
million to date to the law school, solidified the founding efforts. In his oral history, Bill Boyd
shared that he was very proud to be involved in founding Nevada’s law school.

The founding administration of the school included trailblazers such as Dean Dick Morgan, Associate Dean Christine Smith, Professor and Library Director Rick Brown, Director of Admissions Frank Durand and Dianne Fouret, who helped shape Boyd Law from its early days.

When the law school opened, classes were taught at Paradise Elementary School, across the
street from UNLV. 

Students from the inaugural class will tell you about the jungle-gym study breaks, the junior-
sized bathrooms and the overall warmth and feeling of community fostered by the new school.

The law school eventually moved to the former library on the main campus. The building was dedicated on September 27, 2002, with the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving as the keynote speaker.

Since those early years, Boyd School of Law — along with its legal writing, dispute resolution, and part-time programs — has become a nationally-ranked law school. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni have all contributed to making Boyd Law the top-50 public law school it is today.

The school’s 2,800-plus alumni grace every corner of the state and beyond. From leadership roles in both houses of the Nevada State Legislature, to the judiciary, to private, government and nonprofit\ practice, Boyd alumni are making Nevada and beyond better places.