Don Snyder poses on a balcony at Hospitality Hall, the home for the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, on UNLV campus Monday, May 20, 2024.
Sunday, May 26, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Don Snyder remembers taking strolls through the student union on the UNLV campus during his time as dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality.
He would spot a student in the hospitality program on their way to class with a coffee in hand, greeting them with a smile and striking up a quick conversation.
He could tell a lot about a student based on how they greeted him — a strong handshake, eye contact and cordial tone are important, he explained. Those visits to the union were also among the best ways to find out what was going on around campus and learn what students were concerned about.
Snyder has been involved with UNLV since moving here in the 1980s, including serving as the university’s acting president in 2014. He is retiring from university life and transitioning into an emeritus status with the UNLV Foundation, the university said last week.
The relationships with students are what he cherishes, and what he will miss the most.
“I’m a big believer in connecting with students … and I talk a lot about building bridges between the university and the community and two-way bridges, so that the traffic is going both to and from the university and with the community,” Snyder, 76, said. “Not being in the leadership role really does provide a little bit more flexibility — and I’m certainly at a point in my life where, as you get older, you’d probably want to have fewer things on your plate — but I will always be engaged.”
Snyder initially didn’t envision a life in higher education.
He started out as a young boy working construction and messing around in his dad’s tire shop back in South Dakota and Wyoming, then graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1969 from the University of Wyoming.
Snyder finally made his way to Southern Nevada after brief stints in Taiwan and California, where he created the master of business administration training program for the United California Bank, he said.
The goal was to become the president of a bank by the time he was 40. Snyder got the opportunity to accomplish that at 39 when he was asked to move from California to Nevada to lead the First Interstate Bank of Nevada — now Wells Fargo — in 1987. He and his wife relocated that year and immediately got involved with local organizations.
As CEO of “the largest and oldest bank in the state,” Snyder said he could basically choose which organizations to engage with, which ended up being United Way of Southern Nevada, the Clark County School District and UNLV.
When living in Taiwan, Snyder worked with the National Taiwan University and saw the importance of higher education in communities. The business and college communities in Taiwan worked with the government to navigate economic challenges following derecognition by the United States in 1979.
At the time, Snyder adopted a phrase: “you can’t have a great community without a great university,” he said.
It was that philosophy which led him to join the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees in 1988, when he became “very actively involved” through the organization’s executive committee. The UNLV Foundation is a nonprofit that raises and manages private funds for the university, according to the institution.
From 1996 to 2001, Snyder served as chairman of the foundation and co-led the first capital campaign to raise money for the university.
What began as a feasibility consultant warning Snyder and co-chair Jim Rogers — a former Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor who died in 2014 — against a $250 million capital campaign turned into a $537 million drive that concluded in 2009, Snyder said.
Then came his time in the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, where he served as dean from 2010 to 2013 after receiving an offer from former UNLV President Neal Smatresk. Despite lacking the academic experience, Snyder said he had knowledge on hospitality from his nine years with Boyd Gaming and accepted a permanent appointment.
He never thought that would cause a ripple effect leading him to a room with Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis. Allegiant Stadium might as well be another one of Snyder’s kids, he jokingly said.
Snyder was part of a group of university officials who met with Davis in a meeting that launched the construction of the stadium and relocation of the NFL franchise to Las Vegas.
“It was more than just building a collegiate stadium, it was a building that, at the time, we talked about as being the missing link,” Snyder said. “Out of all the things that we were doing in terms of attracting people from around the country — we created these world-class resorts on the Strip, we had taken the convention business to a much higher level, but the thing we didn’t have that a lot of large communities had from a hospitality point of view was a major stadium where you could not only house professional sports, but other events.”
Snyder, at the time, remembers telling people that the stadium had the potential to be “the most successful stadium in the world,” he said.
He was correct.
Allegiant Stadium hosted everything from the Super Bowl to Taylor Swift concerts, bringing notable sports and entertainment events to town since the facility opened in 2020.
But Snyder wasn’t done there.
When Smatresk unexpectedly resigned in 2014 to take a position at the University of North Texas, Snyder was appointed acting president while a national search commenced.
He initiated the strategic planning process that drove efforts to get UNLV recognized as a Research 1 institution in the Carnegie Rating System.
Snyder also oversaw the opening of UNLV’s Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, which he said “was a high priority” once he took the position. He believes it “will be one of the greatest things for the university, but (also) for the community” because it “so desperately meets a need that was so desperately in place.”
In a statement to the Sun, UNLV President Keith Whitfield said Snyder “has opened so many doors for UNLV and is always thinking strategically on how this university can elevate itself, which has been the genesis of so much of our growth and success.”
He continued, “From the time I became president of UNLV it became clear to me the investment and generosity Don Snyder has shown our university. There is no more respected individual in this community and that is because of his selfless attitude, which he has demonstrated by giving his time, energy, and generous support to the university, all with the intent to better our university and have it more engaged with the community.”
Along with helping UNLV, Snyder chaired multiple major fundraising campaigns through United Way of Southern Nevada; managed the Fremont Street Experience as CEO; headed the Boyd Gaming Corporation as company president from 1997 until his retirement in 2005; and helped create the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
The community leader was also inducted into the Nevada Business Hall of Fame by UNLV’s Lee Business School in 2011 and recognized by then-Gov. Brian Sandoval as the 2013 Philanthropist of the Year, among other honors from various organizations.
Helping bring to life the Smith Center for the Performing Arts was probably one of his greatest accomplishments outside of UNLV, he said. It was a mission sparked during his time as CEO of First Interstate Bank of Nevada, when he was trying to recruit executives for the business but having a hard time getting people with families to relocate.
The hesitation of these families and their difficulties in getting comfortable living in Las Vegas opened his eyes to some of the infrastructure that could be improved — from the education system to the arts.
He now sits as the chairman of the board of directors at the Smith Center — a role he’s held since the venue’s debut in 2012 and will be transitioning out of later this year, he said. Snyder said the city has “come a long way in terms of building that big city infrastructure that people really need to have their families (be) comfortable, and their businesses be comfortable here,” but continues to engage with UNLV to bring more opportunities to the state.
Though he is switching to an emeritus role on the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees next month, Snyder said he isn’t planning on stopping his work anytime soon. He still is involved with the Public Education Foundation and will continue to engage with UNLV and the Smith Center “less formally.”
Since the 1980s, Snyder’s token phrase has changed, he said. Now: “You can’t have a great community without a great university engaged with that community.”
“It’s always tough to step away because you kind of worry about (the development of projects you worked on), but I think that the thing that makes the difference is seeing an organization that does have a foundation that’s probably stronger than it ever was before, which gives you comfort that it’s going to move forward,” Snyder said of stepping down from his positions. “I think that’s why I will be involved — albeit, on a less intense basis — because I think it’s important to keep that focus on the foundation being really strong and moving the organization forward.”
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