Former UNLV hotel school professor Basile dies

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

In 1969, as the Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education was planning its national convention in Philadelphia, its organizer died, thrusting Richard Basile into the position of quickly putting the event together.

Basile, then-vice president of the restaurant division of Philadelphia-based Automatic Retailers of America -- today called Aramark -- impressed at least one conventioneer with his efficient organizing abilities.

"Dick took over and did an impressive job with his management skills," said Jerry Vallen, dean emeritus and founding dean of UNLV's College of Hotel Administration. "He was the kind of person we were looking for to teach our students, so I hired him."

Richard Emanuel Basile, a professor at UNLV's hotel school from 1970 to 1988, who initiated courses that still are taught there today, died June 10 of cancer at Nathan Adelson Hospice. He was 83.

A Navy commander during World War II, Basile will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. At his request, there will be no services.

Basile taught management skills, franchising and labor relations courses at UNLV and served as professor emeritus after retiring from teaching in 1988.

Vallen said Basile created UNLV's hotel and restaurant franchising course and co-created with noted Las Vegas architect Homer Rissman the school's hotel architecture course.

"The two put together a unique course, where Dick would tell students what management expected from the architect and Homer would say what the architect expected from management," Vallen said.

Rissman, who designed the tent-shaped Circus Circus hotel and the old Hacienda hotel on the Strip, died in October 2001.

Vallen said Basile also established the standards for evaluating the mandatory work experience program, where students get paying jobs in the hotel industry to gain practical experience that also affects their final grade.

"Dick had an image that projected management -- the way he dressed, the way he was organized, his demand for perfection," Vallen said. "He was what he taught."

Basile's empathizing attitude, Vallen said, won the respect of his fellow professors and students, many of whom sought him out for advice.

Basile was impressed by how Las Vegas and UNLV matured in such a small span of time.

"The entire town including our school has grown from three to five normal generations in just one generation," Basile was quoted in saying in Vallen's recently published book "The Right Place: An Anecdotal History of the UNLV College of Hotel Administration."

"We can credit ourselves, but we must also credit the nature of Las Vegas. We should be proud that the school has produced good people. The final line is that I am happy I made the roll."

Basile was born Dec. 24, 1921, in Buffalo, N.Y. Although his family pronounced its Italian name "bah-zilly," Richard opted for the more Americanized version of "bay-zil."

During World War II, he was commanding officer of a Navy LST, a tank landing ship, during island invasions in the Pacific Theatre.

Basile earned a bachelor of arts degree in geology at Washington and Lee University and worked for the U.S. Geologic Survey from 1946 to 1948, conducting field work in Montana and North Dakota. He later earned a doctorate of Humane Letters from Combs College.

During his business career, Basile was managing director of the Hotel Saranac in New York, a board member of the Marriott's Camelback Inn and Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., and secretary-treasurer for the Paradise Valley Physical Therapy Clinic in Las Vegas.

Basile, who also mediated labor relations, was a member of the Nevada Employee-Management Relations Board and the American Arbitration Association.

He was a recipient of the Winston Churchill Medal of Wisdom and was a consulting editor for Restaurant Hospitality Magazine. Basile also was a member of the Masons and the Las Vegas Rotary Club No. 1401.

Basile is survived by two brothers, David and Arthur. He was preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Mariette, and a brother Robert.

His family said donations can be made in Richard Basile's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice, 4141 Swenson St., Las Vegas, NV 89119 or to UNLV.