Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New UNLV president readies for next month’s start date

Len Jessup

Geri Kodey / UNLV Photo Services

Len Jessup, dean of the University of Arizona Eller College of Management, was named UNLV’s next president on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.

He may have been hired just last month, but incoming UNLV President Len Jessup is already searching full-time for a place to call home in Las Vegas.

Leading up to his first day Jan. 5, Jessup’s schedule is crammed full of travel back and forth between Las Vegas and Tucson, Ariz., where he has served as dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona for nearly four years.

Jessup was chosen by the Board of Regents last month to replace former president Neal Smatresk, who left UNLV in November of last year to head the University of North Texas. Since being selected, Jessup has been tying up loose ends in Arizona while planning a new life in the valley.

This week that has meant searching for homes alongside his two kids and his partner, motivational speaker Kristi Staab. Even though they’re hundreds of miles apart, Las Vegas is a lot like Tucson, he said.

“They’re both high deserts and they’re both set within a ring of mountains, almost like they’re in a bowl,” he said. “They kinda feel the same too.”

Jessup said he wants to live far enough from the city that he can enjoy the desert, but close enough that he can get to campus in a hurry. So far, Jessup said he and Staab have narrowed their search down to Henderson’s Green Valley neighborhood, right next to the 215 Beltway.

An avid hiker, Red Rock and Mt. Charleston are already on his outdoor to-do list.

“Las Vegas is a lot more than just the Strip,” he said. “It’s every bit as beautiful as the desert in southern Arizona and there’s a lot more to do.”

Born and raised near San Francisco, Jessup earned his undergraduate degree from California State University, Chico, and a doctorate from U of A. Since then, he has risen through the academic ranks at several institutions, gaining a reputation for being a savvy fundraiser along the way.

He said he fell in love with the desert southwest as a doctoral student and visited Las Vegas several times a year after he met Staab a few years ago. His favorite place to stay? The Hard Rock.

One business trip brought him to UNLV, where he met faculty and got to know the campus.

On Monday, he took daughter Jamie, 17, and son David, 12, to see the sights. They went first to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, then to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden at the Mirage, and finally to the MGM Grand.

“We were tourists,” he laughed. “But they loved that.”

Next on Jessup’s itinerary is to swing by Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl next week before packing everything into his car and road-tripping north.

“I’ll drive up here on Friday, settle into the weekend and I’ll start first thing Monday morning,” he said.

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