Nevada’s renowned university gaming studies programs will be working more closely together following the appointment of Bo Bernhard to the Philip G. Satre Chair in Gaming Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, succeeds the late Bill Eadington in the UNR post.
Eadington, an economist and pioneer in the study of commercial gaming as an academic discipline, founded the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at UNR. He held the Satre Chair until his death in 2013.
“Bill was one of the kindest, most generous people,” Bernhard said. “He took the time to speak with everyone, share his knowledge and teach what he knew regardless of who it was or where they were from. As a naïve undergraduate interested in learning more about gambling, all the way through my doctoral program and beyond, Bill was an incredible mentor to me.”
Bernhard will maintain his position at UNLV and will continue to work with UNR’s Executive Development Program, held in Lake Tahoe each fall, as a joint project of the two schools and will also continue to develop the gaming minor at the UNR and assist with course development.
“This is the quintessential bridge linking the two great universities of Nevada,” said Tom Piechota, vice president of the Division of Research and Economic Development at UNLV. “The work UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, do together in the field of gaming will continue to foster the state’s reputation as a leader in this area.”
Bernhard, a Las Vegas native, began his research career at Harvard University, where he graduated with a double major in sociology and psychology. After earning his Ph.D. in 2002, he became the first research director at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. He was named the institute’s executive director in 2011.
