James Dickinson, an untenured assistant professor of English at the Reno campus, was responsible for the southern expansion of the University of Nevada to Las Vegas in September 1951. He hired all of the early teachers, scheduled classes, recruited students, and for a short while even served as registrar, collecting student fees. It was Dickinson who arranged for quarters in the old Las Vegas High School.

Dickinson lobbied university officials in Reno for an expanded budget each year and worked hard on the campaign to fund a permanent campus that today is sited on Maryland Parkway.

Sources

• Hulse, James W.; Goodall, Leonard; and Allen, Jackie. Reinventing the System: Higher Education in Nevada. University of Nevada Press, 2002.
• Moehring, Eugene P. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas: A History. University of Nevada Press, 2007.