Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV’s Boyd School of Law to honor Las Vegas pioneer, philanthropist Joyce Mack

Joyce Mack

Wade Vandervort

Las Vegas philanthropist Joyce Mack is interviewed in her home Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.

Joyce Mack

Las Vegas philanthropist Joyce Mack poses for a photo in her home Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Launch slideshow »

When 96-year-old Joyce Mack moved to Las Vegas more than 70 years ago, the valley was mostly empty desert and scrub. The population — some 2.7 million today — was about 35,000, and just a handful of early resorts dotted today’s Strip.

But Mack’s late husband, Jerry, and his father, Nate, had a vision of something grand. They saw what few could imagine.

“I remember Nate and Jerry taking me out to show me the valley,” she said. “They told me that there were going to be beautiful hotels and that everybody was going to want to come here.”

“I looked out and just saw desert and cactus,” she said. “It was difficult to see at the time, but they made me believe it, and that’s exactly what happened.”

On Saturday, Joyce Mack will be recognized as Nevada Woman of Valor by UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. The Mack family has supported the law school for years.

U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen will present the award during a ceremony at the university.

“I’ve known Joyce for nearly 20 years, and I’m continuously amazed by her dedication to improving our state,” Rosen said in a statement.

“Throughout her life, Joyce has made immeasurable contributions to the Las Vegas community, helping to build up so many civic, religious and educational institutions across our valley,” Rosen said. “I know that her work to support UNLV will continue to serve generation after generation of students.”

“The contributions of Joyce Mack and the Mack family to UNLV and the William S. Boyd School of Law cannot be overstated,” said Sara Gordon, interim dean of the law school. “Mrs. Mack’s support has provided countless opportunities for our students and our faculty, and we are enormously grateful for everything she has done for the law school and our community over the years.”

Jerry Mack’s father moved his family to Southern Nevada about the time of the Great Depression and quickly became involved in buying property in the area.

Jerry, who was friends with Joyce’s older brother, met his future wife while attending UCLA. They married and eventually moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in 1949 with their two young daughters.

Jerry Mack, founder of the Bank of Las Vegas and the longtime vice chairman of what was then Valley Bank, helped finance many of the early Strip casinos.

He also invested in real estate and spent time as president of the Riviera and director of the Four Queens and the Dunes, one of Joyce Mack’s favorite hangouts in the “old days.”

A Las Vegas power couple for decades, Jerry and Joyce Mack were instrumental in the development of UNLV and the evolution of the city, which she described as then little more than a “small Western town.”

“I’m so proud of our city,” she said. “I’m just thrilled at how we’ve grown. It’s almost like New York City now. Everybody wants to come here.”

Since her husband’s death in 1998, Joyce Mack has continued the family’s philanthropic efforts in Southern Nevada.

She and her family were among a small group of people who helped make UNLV possible through a land foundation, which donated 400 acres to the university campus in 1967.

In the 1950s, Jerry Mack helped establish Nevada Southern College, which later became UNLV.

Through the years, Joyce Mack has continued to support UNLV and an array of other community organizations, including Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada, Opportunity Village and groups that support the arts and Jewish causes.

Mack still likes to go out to dinner with friends and family and goes to UNLV football games.

She also attends UNLV basketball games at the Thomas & Mack Center, which opened in 1983 largely because of the efforts of Jerry Mack and his business partner, E. Perry Thomas, who died in 2016. The arena is named after the pair, who flipped a coin to decide whose name should be listed first.

“Perry was a great man and a great partner for Jerry,” Mack said. “Perry was the banker and Jerry was the real estate guy.”

While Mack also has a home in Southern California, she spends much of her time in Las Vegas.

She has lived in the Las Vegas Country Club Estates for nearly 60 years. Her home is adorned with photos of her three daughters, nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

There are also framed photos of Joyce Mack with past U.S. presidents and vice presidents, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. She has a signed photo of CNN news personality Anderson Cooper, whom she described as a “very nice man.”

Mack talked casually about the time she sat next to Obama at a dinner in Las Vegas.

She also recalled watching performances of the famous Rat Pack, which in the 1960s included entertainers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

“It’s been an interesting life in an interesting town,” Mack said. “I love this town. I care about the people here in Las Vegas.”