Internationally known gaming executive Shannon L. Bybee has joined the faculty of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration and the 8kbet International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bybee will serve as a full-time faculty member specializing in casino management, gaming law, and gaming regulation and control, according to Dr. David Christianson, dean of the College of Hotel Administration.
Bybee will occupy the Michael Rose Distinguished Chair, a chair made possible by a gift from Verna Harrah, wife of the late William F. Harrah, and the Promus Companies, the parent company of Harrah's Casino Hotels. He will join faculty members Jim Kilby, known worldwide for his expertise in gaming, who holds the Sam and Mary Boyd Distinguished Gaming Chair in Casino Management and Operations, and Vincent H. Eade, associate professor and director of the Institute. Faculty from the College of Hotel Administration and select individuals from the gaming industry also teach in the Institute.
Bybee brings to the Institute 20 years of gaming experience. He currently holds the positions of president and chief operations officer of United Gaming, Inc. Bybee has also been chief executive officer as well as chairman of the board of the Claridge Casino Hotel, Atlantic City; senior vice president of Golden Nugget, Inc. (now Mirage Resorts, Inc.); and president of Golden Nugget Atlantic City Corp., which operated the Golden Nugget Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.
Bybee served on the Nevada Gaming Control Board for more than four years and has practiced law in the state of Nevada, specializing in gaming regulatory issues. He will be teaching gaming regulation and management courses in the College of Hotel Administration and will oversee the Institute's seminars in the area of gaming regulation.
The Institute conducts seminars for national and international gaming regulators in conjunction with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. These seminars, offered through the Institute's Center for Gaming Regulation and Policy, are exclusively for government gaming control regulators from such emerging U.S. jurisdictions as Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arizona, Minnesota, New York, and Missouri, and such international jurisdictions as Poland, Kenya, Canada, and Australia. Four more seminars scheduled for 1994 will cover the topics of investigation and licensing procedures, enforcement procedures as used by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and auditing gaming operations.
The Institute also does management and executive development seminars through its Center for Management Development and Training. Some are offered regularly, and others are specially designed at the request of private casinos and gaming operations to train individuals, such as new board members or hotel executives, or a particular company's management team. These seminars are tailor-made to meet the needs of the individual organization.
In addition to its training and executive development programs, the Institute offers 13 undergraduate and four graduate-level courses in casino and gaming management and administration. Some 400 students enrolled in these courses during the 1993-94 academic year. A baccalaureate degree emphasis in gaming management is now offered, and the curriculum is currently undergoing review and expansion.
The Institute is also involved in research. Faculty members will publish three textbooks on gaming this year. The Institute conducts national surveys, such as a recent study of casino employees to determine training needs and job satisfiers. It is also currently in the process of compiling gaming regulations from jurisdictions around the country, and, in conjunction with the International Association of Hospitality Accountants, it is developing a uniform system of casino accounting analogous to the one used in the hotel industry.
Thanks to a gift from the ACE Denken Co., Ltd., of Japan, and with the cooperation of the Nevada Gaming Attorneys Association, the Institute is publishing The Gaming Research and Review Journal twice annually. The first issue, due out this summer, will include articles on domestic and international gaming law and regulations. The upcoming fall-winter issue will focus on gaming management issues.
Because of the Institute's growth and the high demand for its programs, a new building is needed. The Institute is privately funded, so its new home would be supported by private gifts.
To inquire about the Institute's activities and funding opportunities, contact Vince Eade at (702) 895-3412 or 895-3966.
