Leonard Goodall served as president from 1979 to 1984. Goodall, a specialist in urban politics, had spent most of his career at major state institutions, including Arizona State University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

During Goodall's presidency, the UNLV Foundation was established. It has provided crucial support for the academic programs as well as such popular campus-community programs as the Barrick Lecture Series.
Considerable expansion of campus facilities and programs also took place under Goodall. He worked to create the school of engineering and computer science, which later became the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering.

Along with his predecessor, Goodall was instrumental in getting the 18,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center built. Other facilities constructed during Goodall's administration included the Alta Ham Fine Arts Building (including the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery) and the Frank and Estella Beam Hall. One of the best-known structures installed during his tenure was Claes Oldenburg's sculpture, The Flashlight, which stands in the plaza between the Judy Bayley Theatre and Artemus Ham Concert Hall.

In 1984, Goodall returned to the faculty of public administration, where he taught until his retirement in 2000.

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.