150 Years of University Innovation
Since its inception in 1874 as the state of Nevada’s first institution of higher education, the University of Nevada, Reno has delivered on the promise of providing the citizens of Nevada with a better future.
As the state’s original land-grant university and ranked among the nation’s top universities by the Carnegie Foundation, the University is providing new paths for the state’s next generation of leaders.
The University has been home to innumerable innovators among faculty and students over its history in a wide range of disciplines. Faculty, staff, students and alumni have forged paths to improve the world. Here we highlight James Church, Charles Douglass, and Beatrix Gardner as impressive members of our community.
The Pulitzer Prize is awarded by Columbia University each year for excellence in journalism, literature, and music composition. It’s widely recognized as the gold standard in achievement for journalism.
The University of Nevada, Reno is proud to include six winners among its graduates since 1951.
Edward S. Montgomery
class of 1934, Journalism
1951 award with the San Francisco Examiner for his series of articles on tax frauds which culminated in an exposé on the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Howard Sheerin
class of 1931, English
1956 award with the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian for courageous exposure of corruption in public office, which led to the resignation of a district attorney and the conviction of one of his associates.
Ron Einstoss
class of 1955, Journalism
1966 award with the Los Angeles Times for coverage of the Watts riots.
Warren Lerude (graduate and was faculty)
class of 1961, Journalism
1977 award with the Reno Evening Gazette and Nevada State Journal for editorials challenging the power of a local brothel keeper.
Susan Forrest
class of 1982, Journalism
1988 award with Lawrence Eagle-Tribune for an investigation that revealed serious flaws in the Massachusetts prison furlough system and led to significant statewide reforms.
Kristen Go
class of 1998 Journalism
2000 award with Denver Post for clear and balanced coverage of the student massacre at Columbine High School.
Research & Innovation annually presents two Foundation Innovation Awards to new and established University faculty and staff to recognize their contribution(s) to innovation, and/or for the commercialization of ideas that impact and benefit the public’s well-being. For these awards, innovation comprises all forms of discovery, creation and production of inventive and progressive ideas, methods, and products that promote society’s growth.
Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. The University has had three faculty members, the only members from Nevada, elected to NAS.
Frits Went
Botanist and Director of DRI
Elected in 1947
Catherine Fowler
Anthropology
Elected in 2011
Geoffrey Blewitt
Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology and Physics
Elected in 2024
The Zebra Pulsed Power Lab (ZPPL), formerly the Nevada Terawatt Facility (NTF), focuses on plasma research, mirroring conditions found in stars and lightning. Central to its operations are two notable devices: The Zebra Pulsed-Power Generator, capable of a two-terawatt discharge, creating plasma by heating wire or gas-filled targets to temperatures in the millions of degrees, and the Leopard laser, a 50-terawatt short-pulse laser with standalone plasma-creating capabilities.
The Nevada Center for Applied Research is opening the door for entrepreneurial activities on campus and supporting the development of business ideas and startup companies.
The Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research, houses cutting-edge biaxial shake tables instrumental for simulating seismic events. Among these tables is the 6-Degree-of-Freedom, designed in-house by Patrick Laplace, engineered to handle a payload of 50 tons. This technology is applied in the NHERI TallWood Project aimed at testing the resilience of tall timber buildings during earthquakes and improving non-structural elements like stairs, elevators, plumbing, and more.
The Seismology Laboratory was opened in 1978 by the Board of Regents to operate seismic stations, analyze data, report on earthquake data, conduct research on earthquake problems, and educate the public on risks and activity. A collaboration between the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Oregon, ALERT Wildfire provides live fire cameras from various locations, allowing users to monitor wildfire activity in real-time.
As a member of the Arborglyph Collective, the Jon Bilbao Basque Library is documenting and sharing the aspen tree carvings created by Basque sheep herders across Idaho, Nevada, and California. These carvings offer a window into the solitary existence of the herders and their efforts to preserve various aspects of Basque culture, such as work, religion, homeland, and beyond.
The Innevation Center is a collabortive space in downtown Reno empowering Nevada's next generation of startups.
The HERD Survey is an annual census of U.S. colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted-for R&D in the fiscal year. The University of Nevada, Reno nearly doubled expenditures between 2010 to 2022, a remarkable achievement, and a testament to the high productivity of University innovators.
For the past 150 years, University of Nevada, Reno faculty, staff, and students have shown excellence in improving processes, strengthening outcomes, and fostering innovations from early developments in agricultural techniques and equipment to current advances in medicine, engineering, and science. In 1967, the UCCSN Board of Regents established a patent and intellectual property policy.
Since the first institutional patent filing in 1968, for the “Automatic Animal Catching Gate,” the University has been awarded 175 patents. These have represented many areas of important innovations including vaccines, surgical components, chemical sensors, snowpack measurement, and improved coatings for the aerospace industry. The patents here on display are just a few of the 76 patents and 41 pending applications currently assigned to the University.
