NEVADA, UNIVERSITY OF

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Nevada, U.S., made up of campuses in Reno and Las Vegas. It is part of the University and Community College System of Nevada. The Reno campus, established as a land-grant university, offers about 65 undergraduate degree programs, about 60 master's degree programs, and about 30 doctoral degree programs. Notable among its schools and colleges are the Mackay School of Mines and the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism; there are also schools of medicine and nursing. The campus contains the Desert Research Institute, the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gambling, the Mackay Mineral Resources Research Institute, the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, the Senator Allen Bible Center for Applied Research, and the National College of Juvenile and Family Law. There are approximately 12,000 students enrolled at the Reno branch. Among the 12 schools and colleges at the Las Vegas campus are the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. There are more than 100 fields of undergraduate and 65 fields of graduate study. Research facilities include the National Supercomputing Center for Energy and the Environment, the International Gaming Institute, the Exercise Physiology Laboratory, and the Hospitality Research and Development Center. Student enrollment at Las Vegas is approximately 19,000. The University of Nevada was established as a preparatory school in Elko in 1874. It relocated to Reno in 1885, reopened in 1886, and began providing collegiate course work in 1887. Nevada was one of 69 land-grant colleges established under the Morrill Act of 1862, and, as such, initially emphasized a curriculum of agriculture, mining, and mechanic arts. The Las Vegas branch was founded in 1957. Noteworthy alumni of the university include Abraham Lincoln Battalion commander Robert Hale Merriam and golfer Patty Sheehan.