William H. Hernstadt served as a Nevada state senator from 1977 to 1984 and was owner and general manager of the Las Vegas television station KVVU TV 5 during the early 1970s. He also served as president of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas from 1981 to 1982. Hernstadt graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York with a degree in physics in 1957.

1976 arrived in Las Vegas; bought Supreme Mattress Co.; 1999 Jewish Federation president; 2012 becomes active with Holocaust Resource Center