Thursday, July 22, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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When UNLV’s fledgling medical school went searching for donors to provide scholarships for its charter class, Tom and Mary Kay Gallagher were among the front-line supporters who stepped up.
The couple’s gift, along with those of others who contributed to the cause, was crucial in getting the med school off the ground. Given that the institution had yet to be accredited, students were taking a chance in enrolling here to study — providing the scholarships was a way to offset their risk and display community confidence that the school would get its accreditation.
It worked. The school, now named the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, attracted a full class of 60 students in 2017, its first year of instruction.
This was one of many, many times that Tom Gallagher, who died last week at age 76, made a difference in the lives of UNLV students and Las Vegas residents outside of the campus community.
Gallagher was the very picture of a civic leader, someone who contributed in an array of roles. The Harvard Law School alum taught business law and ethics at the Boyd School of Law at UNLV, co-founded the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, served on the boards of the Black Mountain Institute and Desert Research Institute Foundation, and was a longtime board member of the UNLV’s principal fundraising organization, the UNLV Foundation. He also sat on the board of Vegas PBS.
As UNLV President Keith Whitfield remarked, Gallagher made an indelible mark on the university. His contributions benefited generations of students, whether directly through his classroom instruction or scholarship donations, or through his leadership on university boards.
“UNLV will never forget the impact he had here and in Southern Nevada,” Whitfield said.
Away from campus, Gallagher built a legacy in executive and political leadership, with roles that included chief legislative counsel for former U.S. Sen. John Tunney, CEO of Griffin Group and CEO of Park Place Entertainment, the forerunner of Caesars Entertainment.
In those capacities, Gallagher distinguished himself through his support of gender and ethnic diversification, in addition to his business acumen.
In his role with Park Place/Caesars, he helped steer the company through difficulty after the 9/11 attacks disrupted tourism and triggered an economic crisis in Las Vegas. Caesars, in a statement, honored Gallagher for his leadership during that harrowing time and afterward for his contributions to the “growth of Nevada and its communities through education philanthropy and more.”
“The legacy he leaves behind is one we are proud to be a part of, and our hearts are with his family,” the statement said.
Certainly, Gallagher will be missed. But through his leadership in the halls of UNLV, the executive boardrooms of Las Vegas and in philanthropic circles, he’ll be an enduring role model for those who wish to make their community and their state a better place.
