Brian Sandoval

President of the University of Nevada, Reno

Brian Sandoval was appointed the 17th president of the University of Nevada, Reno, on Sept. 17, 2020 by the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents. He is the first person of Hispanic origin as well as the first alumnus to serve as president in University history.

Sandoval served two terms as the 29th Governor of the State of Nevada from 2011-2019, during which time his leadership helped lift Nevada from an historic recession to a time of record-setting prosperity and growth.

Term-limited following eight years as one of the most popular governors in Nevada history, Sandoval then became the president of global gaming development for MGM Resorts International, a member of the board of directors for Coeur Mining, and a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. In addition, he was a Distinguished Fellow of Law and Leadership at UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law.

Prior to becoming governor, Sandoval was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Nevada, becoming the state’s first Hispanic federal judge. He also was elected Nevada’s Attorney General, was a member and at one point was the youngest chairman in the history of the Nevada Gaming Commission, and served two terms, 1994-1998, as an assemblyman in the Nevada State Legislature.

He has also served on several state boards and commissions, including the Nevada Boards of Pardons, Prisons, Transportation, and Examiners, the Council for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and was Nevada’s at-large member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board.

Sandoval is a 1986 graduate of the University, with a degree in English. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Ohio State University Moritz School of Law in 1989.

Sandoval is married to Lauralyn McCarthy Sandoval, who is a 1992 graduate of the University’s Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism. She was also an intercollegiate athlete at the University, competing on the women’s tennis team. Sandoval has three children: James, Madeline, and Marisa.