Professorship endowed in name of Denton

Beth Slovic

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

Ralph Denton -- native Nevadan, lawyer and political candidate -- is being honored with a professorship in his name at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The Joy McCann Foundation, a family foundation based in Tampa, Fla., has endowed the professorship with a half-million dollar gift to the school, its dean, Dick Morgan, said Wednesday.

This is the third such endowed professorship at the law school with 37 full-time faculty members and administrators, Morgan said.

The interest earned from the endowment could bring in as much as $25,000 a year, Morgan said. The money would be used to supplement the current salary of a full-time law school faculty member, who is recommended for the professorship by the dean and selected by the university president.

The donors and co-chairs of the family foundation, Robert Daugherty Jr., a former dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and his wife, Joy McCann Daugherty, stipulated that the professorship be bestowed on a faculty member who excels at mentoring students.

Denton, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in 1964 and 1966, is held in high regard by many of his peers. They include Daugherty, who met Denton in the 1980's when he was appointed medical school dean here, and Jim Rogers, the interim chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada, who practiced law with Denton.

"He is the most ethical person I have ever known," Rogers said, "Ralph analyzes situations and does what he thinks is right."

For his part, Denton said he was surprised by the gift in his name.

"I'm proud to have my name associated with education in Nevada," he said.