FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Suzanne Ernst
(702) 889-8426

LAS VEGAS -- The Board of Regents today appointed Dr. Richard Moore to serve as the founding president of Nevada's inaugural state college.

"Dr. Moore has earned high marks since he joined our system in 1994," said Dr. Jill Derby, chair of Nevada's 11-member Board of Regents. "He has worked hard to turn the Community College of Southern Nevada into one of higher education's brightest stars. I could not think of a finer individual to begin building our first state college."

Moore's appointment will take effect January 15.

On December 1, the Board voted to accept the recommendations from the Legislative Advisory Committee (created by Assembly Bill 220) to start a new state college in Henderson. Chair Derby then created the ad hoc Regents Founding Presidential Search Committee to decide whether or not to conduct a national search for the college's president.

The search committee was chaired by Regent Mark Alden and included Regents Thalia Dondero, Dorothy Gallagher, Douglas Roman Hill and Howard Rosenberg.

The committee met on December 10 and voted to suspend the search. They then brought their recommendations to the full Board this morning that Dr. Richard Moore be appointed to serve as the college's founding president.

"Dr. Moore has the qualifications and the experience to make this college a success," said Mark Alden, chair of the search committee. "He is a proven entity and I am confident he will work fervently to create an institution that will serve the educational needs of all Nevadans."

Dr. Moore was appointed by the Board of Regents in 1994 to serve as the president of the Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN). Since he came to the college, which serves a four-county area the size of Virginia, enrollment has grown from 17, 113 students to more than 30,000 (based on preliminary fall headcount).

Prior to joining CCSN, he served as president and superintendent of Santa Monica College from 1974-1994.

Dr. Moore earned a B.S. in economics from Claremont Men's College; a MBA from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Ph.D. in economics from the Claremont Graduate School. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1957-1959.

Comprised of two doctoral-granting universities, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institution, the University and Community College System of Nevada serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 82,000 students.