Tom Ehlen is a professional trumpet player. He played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, and many others. He made his home in Las Vegas and played in the bands of various casinos. Tom now plays for the Las Vegas Classic Jazz Band at the Gold Coast and is in shows such as The Producers.
Photographer's notes: "Aerial view looking down the canyon with the Nevada hairpin turn of the old highway in the foreground." Site Name: Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
Reva Giles grew up in the little town of New Carlisle, Indiana. She was one of twelve children, learning from an early age to share, to give and take, and to appreciate hand-me-downs. Her mother stayed home with the children, and her father worked for Studebaker, a large automobile manufacturer. Right after high school graduation, Reva moved to Redland, California, to live with a sister, working first at an ice cream place and then a bank. Reva married a military man, and she and their three sons followed him as he was transferred first to Las Vegas, then Okinawa, and finally Utah. When he retired in 1964, they returned to Las Vegas, where he went to work for Pete Findlay Oldsmobile. Their ' middle son Stuart played football at UNLV, and Reva got involved in fundraising and ticket sales for the team. Reva always enjoyed helping students, and from the ticket office she moved into admissions, and then student services. She worked for Drs. Ackerman and Burns helping to certify athletes, and from there went into career services, helping students find jobs and practice interview techniques. After Reva retired, Susie Smith asked her to come back and help, which Reva did gladly. She volunteers as an office aide to Susie as well as Mike Hamrick, athletic director at UNLV. Mike worked with Reva back in the eighties when he was a graduate student, and they have kept in touch through the years. Reva recalls the university campus when there were only two buildings, and was there for much of the new growth. She is familiar with the history of the Millennium Scholarship, the impact of Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels on the community and school, and the North-South rivalry between UNLV and UNR's teams. Reva and her family have supported UNLV teams for many years, and she has many anecdotes concerning team trips.
Dr. Tony Miranda grew up in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara, California. His father was a chef at the Santa Maria Inn, and the rest of the family spent summers picking strawberries in the surrounding fields. He has a sister who earned a degree in psychology from UCLA, and he credits her voracious early reading habits for inspiring him to continue with his education. Dr. Miranda married and worked as a postman for a while, then began taking night school classes in order to obtain his high school diploma. He liked school so much that he continued at Long Beach City College, then Cal State Long Beach to earn his bachelor's degree. He was offered several fellowships and chose SC on a Teacher Corps fellowship. A friend informed him of an NIMH doctoral fellowship at UCLA, and he chose to take it. In 1976, before he finished the doctoral program, Tony applied for a teaching position at UNLV. He was accepted provisionally, meaning he had to complete his doctoral dissertation in one year. He successfully completed his doctorate and was offered a tenured track position. Dr. Miranda taught Introduction to Chicano Literature for a year, and then took a post-doctoral ethnic studies course at UC Santa Barbara. He returned to UNLV to teach, served as faculty senator, and held the position of chair of the anthropology and ethnic studies department from 1993 until 2004. Today he is revising his book on Hispanics of Southern Nevada and teaching three classes. His second wife has been retired since 1995, having spent 16 years with SIIS. When he retires, they will continue to make Las Vegas their home.
Lawrence Seidman grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Culver Military Academy the first three years of high school, but graduated from Bay Village High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, and went on to law school at Case Western Reserve University. Lawrence and his wife moved to Chicago after he finished law school, where he worked in the First National Bank of Chicago doing estate planning and analysis. He wanted to try teaching, so he sent letters to many different schools. Ferris State College in Michigan gave him an interview, and he and his wife moved there for one academic year. The freezing cold winter convinced them that they did not want to stay in the Midwest, so Lawrence began writing letters to schools out west. UNR replied to the letter they received, saying they had no openings, but he might try Nevada Southern University in Las Vegas. The school was in the middle of changing its name to University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). Lawrence flew out, interviewed with future colleagues, and accepted the job. He and his wife have lived in Vegas ever since 1969. Lawrence was the first full-time person hired to teach business law. He restructured the way the courses were developed and presented. A discipline officer was needed after the regents passed a new code of conduct and he was asked to take the position, which he did. Because the administrative or discipline officer reports to the president of the university, he got to know several of them rather well. Eventually, Lawrence became assistant general counsel, and also served as deputy attorney general for a while. His wife Janet pursued her degrees at UNLV, taught for about five years, and then worked at Children's Behavioral Services. Today they are both retired, and are enjoying traveling and working on their home. Lawrence occasionally teaches summer sessions at UNLV.
Dr. Robert Skaggs grew up around the St. Louis area. His father was a teamster with a milk delivery route, tried his hand at the restaurant business, and during WWII worked tor U.S. Cartridge. Several members of Dr. Skaggs's family were teachers, including his grandmother and a couple of aunts. Robert graduated trom Normandy High School and afterwards attended the Missouri School of Mines and majored in metallurgical engineering. He graduated in 1954 and went to work tor DuPont tor two years. He went to graduate school at Iowa State on an Atomic Energy Commission scholarship, and afterwards was hired by Standard Oil of California. During this time he met and married Anna Pedersen (1961) and moved to Minneapolis to work for Honeywell. Around 1966, Bob started teaching at the University of Kentucky. After a couple of years, he got wind of teaching opportunities at the Southern Division of the University of Nevada (now UNLV), and interviewed with Herb Wells. He and his family moved to Boulder City (1969) and he began teaching at what is now UNLV. He was involved in the work bringing accreditation to the engineering department, establishing a chapter for Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, and building a master's and a PhD program. After a heart attack in 1975, Dr. Skaggs took a sabbatical from UNLV and did some team teaching at University of Arizona in Tucson with Ray Sierka. He returned to UNLV on a half time teaching basis, and also worked for the Bureau of Mines. He was again involved in accreditation preparations and stayed to graduate a PhD student in engineering. He looks upon his experiences at UNLV as very positive and delightful.