Dr. Lonnie D. Spight grew up in northern Colorado, earned his bachelor's degree at Colorado State University, and his PhD at University of Nevada Reno. His interest in astronomy dates from his early years on the farm in Colorado, star-gazing in the fields at night. Before coming to UNLV, Lonnie worked for the Department of Defense on scattering cross sections and explosions. Working between Los Alamos and the Test Site, he was often in Las Vegas and had met most of the physicists at the university. He was invited midterm to take over a physics class for a faculty member who had fallen ill, and was offered a job the following fall of 1970. In the seventies when Dr. Spight arrived, the physics department was located in trailers, and the university campus was mostly desert. Lonnie served as chair of the department on several occasions, and was responsible for insisting that faculty members get involved in research, no matter how tight the budget. He worked on solar energy and far-field microwave analysis, and helped set up safety standards for the new laser technology. One of Dr. Spight's interests outside of physics is a love for classical music. He was a volunteer "Deejay" for 12 years with KNPR once it got started in 1980. Meanwhile, after 37 years with UNLV Lonnie retains his enthusiasm and love for teaching. Today he teaches quantum mechanics and hopes that one day he will be able to teach a particle physics course which ties together cosmology, the beginning of the universe, fundamental cutting edge physics, quarks, gluon plasmas, and more. He has the course materials ready to go and is looking forward to many more years at UNLV.
In this essay, Jerry Countess provides narrative context for a demographic study of the Jewish population in Las Vegas, and addresses the services and community needs revealed by the study and the growing Jewish population.
The "Brandeis National Committee Las Vegas Chapter records" series mainly consists of planning documents, correspondence (including emails), event programs, newspaper clippings, reports, and newsletters created or collected by Miriam "Mimi" Katz in the course of her work for the chapter from 2006 to 2012. Materials document events and activities such as general meetings, the installation of officers, and Book and Author Luncheons.
The "Temple Beth Sholom Women's League records" series mainly consists of by-laws, correspondence, invitations, newsletters, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, profit and loss statements, photographs, and event planning documents created or collected by Miriam "Mimi" Katz in the course of her work for the league from 2001 to 2006.
The "Other community involvement records and personal papers" series mainly consists of materials created and collected by Miriam "Mimi" Katz from the 1940s to 2015 that document her involvement in the Las Vegas, Nevada community. This series contains a substantial amount of political campaign materials documenting Katz's volunteer work for state and federal candidates such as John Kerry, Dina Titus, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore. Katz was involved in the League of Women Voters and Temple Beth Sholom's Meet the Candidates nights, which is reflected in records and planning documents in this series. Records of other special events that Katz helped to plan for Temple Beth Sholom and its Active Adults program, as well as the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, are also included in this series. The history of the local Jewish community is described in compositions by George Katz and Jerome D. Countess. Finally, this series includes some personal items documenting Katz's life, including photographs, certificates of recognition, and her obituary and memorial service program.