LAS VEGAS (Las Vegas Sun) — The University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Medicine will bear the name of prominent businessman and philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian, the first time the late Las Vegas icon’s name will be used on a building anywhere.
The naming, which requires approval by the Board of Regents, was announced on April 8 at the construction site of the medical school building. It will be known as the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.
Kerkorian’s name will not be used on any other buildings, said Lindy Schumacher, a board member of the nonprofit Nevada Health and Bioscience Corp., which is overseeing the construction project.
Kerkorian, who died in 2015, had refused numerous offers throughout his life to have buildings named after him.
“His anonymous generosity is everywhere, but his name is nowhere,” Schumacher said. “You can have his money. You cannot have his name — until now.”
In a statement, the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corp. said the Kerkorian estate’s donations toward the School of Medicine building, as well as Kerkorian’s prominence in the community and philanthropic history, made him a “clear choice for the naming.”
