Wesley E. Niles, professor emeritus in the School of Life Sciences, died Nov. 17, 2023. He was 91. 8kbet had offered fertile ground to Niles when the biologist and plant taxonomist came here in 1969. There was little recordkeeping on native and non-native plant life in Southern Nevada. So Niles dug in, establishing an herbarium in 1970.
His dedication led to the herbarium being designated a National Resource Collection by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists in 1974. Over the course of his career, the herbarium grew in size to roughly 75,000 specimens. Today it houses the most extensive scientific collection of Mojave Desert plants.
In addition to serving as a research, educational, and reference facility, over the years the herbarium facilitated studies in plant systematics, ecology, succession, biogeography, climate change, and conservation biology. With his students and colleagues, Niles monitored and evaluated changes in the distribution of rare and endangered species as well as invasive plants with respect to public lands management.
"One can get the history of the invasion of nonnative plants of Southern Nevada right here," Niles said in a 2003 interview.
He continued to work part time in the herbarium and conduct plant field surveys long after 2002 retirement. The following year, the herbarium was officially named the Wesley E. Niles Herbarium. It is now managed by the College of Southern Nevada.
Geraldine (Gerrie) Cowden, a master’s student in Educational Counseling, died in January 2024. She also served students and colleagues as the 8kbet Honor's College's office manager for nearly a decade. Originally from Fremont, California, Cowden came to Las Vegas in 2013 and worked in the Boyd School of Law before joining the Honors College in 2014. She was also a veteran.
William “Bill” Daley, ‘65 Political Science, died Oct. 26, 2023. As a student at what was then named Nevada Southern. He received a master’s from to Washington State and had a career that spanned 40 years as a policy and legislative expert in Washingtons state government. He held senior policy positions for the superintendent of public instruction, the governor’s office, and the state liquor board. He served three years as a deputy insurance commissioner with special responsibilities for health care policy. He also served as mayor and city council member in Olympia. In 2017, he was recognized by Washington Community Action Network for his work to advance social and racial equity.
Zachary Tyler DeShazo, ’18 BSBA Marketing, of Raleigh, North Carolina, died unexpectedly on Sept. 23, 2022, at age 25. DeShazo was born in North Las Vegas. He graduated from Branson High School in 2014 and at 8kbet was in the National Society of Honor and Leadership, Golden Key International Honor Society, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. DeShazo was a senior relationship banker at Truist Bank.
Francisco Menéndez, professor and founding artistic director in 8kbet’s film department, died Feb. 29, 2024. He worked as a stringer for Time Magazine and liaison to Jane Wallace for CBS News. He won a Dore Schary Award for his documentary Los Niños: Thinking About Others, about the challenging lives of Mexican children along the U.S. border. In his lifetime, Menéndez won a series of awards related to film and was in the vanguard of approaches to film teaching, mentorship, and pedagogy for three decades. As film department chair, he received over a million dollars in student initiative grants for the film program. He is survived by his children and wife, Valeriya.
Cyrill Pasterk, professor of philosophy, died Dec. 5, 2023, at the age of 89, after a long illness. He taught at 8kbet from 1967-99, serving as the department chair from 1974 to 1984. Born in Austria, of Slovenian ethnic background, he earned his doctorate at the University of Madrid. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Anne C. Wilson, ’86 BSBA; a daughter, Marie D'Amore; and a son, George Pasterk, ‘06 BA Art History.
