When Jason Frierson, B.S. '96 (health science), J.D., walks across the University of Nevada, Reno campus today, it looks a little different than it did in the mid 90s’.

The student union he knew was in the Jot Travis Building, which now houses the Davidson Academy. Students worked out at Lombardi Recreation Center, and campus life largely stopped at the gates of Mackay Stadium. New buildings have changed the landscape, the campus has expanded and the University has grown in ways he could not have imagined as an undergraduate.

But for Frierson, the return to the Wolf Pack is also deeply familiar.

Nevada is where he found his voice as a student leader, learned how to advocate for others and began building a career centered on public service.

Those lessons stayed with him as his career moved into law, government and public policy.

As an attorney, Frierson represented people navigating the justice system. As a state legislator and speaker of the Nevada Assembly, he helped shape public policy. As U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada, he led federal law enforcement efforts across the state.

Now, as vice chancellor of government relations for the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), he has returned to the institutions that helped shape his own path, this time working on behalf of thousands of students across the state.

NSHE brings together the state’s eight public higher education institutions: the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Nevada State University; the College of Southern Nevada; Great Basin College; Truckee Meadows Community College; Western Nevada College; and the Desert Research Institute. Together, they serve more than 100,000 students and support education, research and workforce development across Nevada.

In his new role, Frierson provides strategic direction and coordination for government relations across the system. He works to strengthen relationships with elected officials, align legislative priorities and help Nevada’s colleges and universities communicate how higher education supports students, communities and the state’s workforce.

The position brings together many of the skills he has developed throughout his career: understanding public policy, building relationships across institutions and government, and advocating within systems that affect people’s opportunities.

“I think the people in my life, the faculty members and the school all directed me toward helping people,” Frierson said.

A foundation in health and service

Frierson earned his bachelor’s degree in health science from what is now the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health in 1996.

His interest in health began while he was growing up in Compton, California. His mother worked in a laboratory at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles County. Through his own family’s experiences, Frierson saw firsthand how emergency rooms were used for everything from colds and toothaches to catastrophic injuries.

He spent hours observing the patients, families and health care workers around him.

When he arrived at Nevada, Frierson initially considered medical school. He later thought about earning a master’s degree in public health and pursuing health policy.

“Vice Chancellor Frierson is a powerful example of how public health values can shape a lifetime of service. He has used his education, leadership and experience to advocate for people and strengthen communities across Nevada.” - Dean Muge Akpinar-Elci

Although his career ultimately moved in another direction, his health science education gave him a foundation that continued to shape how he approached his work.

“I knew I wanted to help people,” Frierson said. “I think it was a foundation for caring for people, caring about people. It really was the foundation for me having a focus dedicated to service.”

Muge Akpinar-Elci, M.D., MPH, dean of the School of Public Health, said Frierson’s story shows how a foundation in public health can prepare graduates to lead in many different ways.

“Vice Chancellor Frierson is a powerful example of how public health values can shape a lifetime of service,” Akpinar-Elci said. “He has used his education, leadership and experience to advocate for people and strengthen communities across Nevada.”

That focus extended beyond the classroom. Frierson participated in AmeriCorps, completed training related to race, gender and equity, and worked with young people at Swope Middle School in Reno.

His interest in service would eventually guide his work in law and public policy. Before that, it helped him find a new direction at Nevada.

Finding Nevada and a new path

Football created Frierson’s opportunity to attend Nevada.

A standout fullback, Frierson initially had his sights set on Notre Dame. As the recruitment process evolved, a coach there shared his tape with Nevada coach Jeff Horton. Horton and longtime Nevada football coach Chris Ault soon reached out with an opportunity to join the Wolf Pack, offering him a full scholarship.

“I didn’t even know there was a university in Reno at the time,” Frierson said. “I made it very clear: Full scholarship? Yes. Even if I get hurt? Yes. Where do I sign?”

Ault and Horton visited Frierson’s family home, where his mother questioned the coaches closely about how her youngest child would be supported away from home.

“I always felt it a privilege to say Jason played for the Pack and, in doing so, left an indelible mark on our program. His commitment and resolve to be a leader on and off the field, along with his high energy for public service within our state, made him, in my mind, the perfect spokesperson for understanding that success is a journey, not a destination.” - Former Nevada Football Coach Chris Ault

Frierson later traveled to Reno during winter break. Although few students were on campus, he attended a Nevada-UNLV basketball game and saw the energy surrounding one of the state’s defining rivalries.

He was struck by the school spirit, the campus and a location that offered both independence and a connection to home.

“There was no looking back at that point,” he said.

Chris Ault, former Nevada football coach and University athletics director, said Frierson’s leadership was evident on and off the field.

“He was one of the most unselfish players I ever coached,” Ault said. “He was always in full stride and had the leadership qualities that separated him from the norm. After his injury, he didn’t disappear from the public stage. He wanted to lead, and that he did when he became ASUN student body president.”

Frierson began his Nevada career as a running back with three goals: start for a Division I team, average 100 rushing yards per game and break a long run. He accomplished all three early in his Nevada career. His freshman year, the Wolf Pack reached the 1-AA national championship game. The next season, as Nevada moved to Division I, Frierson was leading the nation in rushing when he tore his ACL.

After reconstructive surgery for a torn ACL, Frierson attempted to return the next season, but his knee could no longer withstand the demands of the game. Losing football meant more than leaving a sport. It also meant losing the identity, friendships and routines he had built around it.

“It was a big pivot,” Frierson said. “Football had been everything for me my entire childhood growing up.”

The transition was difficult. He moved away from his football teammates and struggled to understand what would come next.

That began to change when Melissa Clement, who worked for Rita Laden, saw him walking through the Jot Travis Student Union on crutches and invited him to become involved in student programming.

Frierson began participating in the Black Student Union, writing for the Nevada Sagebrush and finding new ways to channel his energy. Student programming eventually opened the door to the Associated Students of the University of Nevada.

“I just started finding a different path to have an identity, to grow and to use that energy I had,” Frierson said.

He served as a senator representing the College of Human and Community Sciences and later became ASUN president.

“After his injury, he didn’t disappear from the public stage. He wanted to lead, and that he did when he became ASUN student body president,” said Ault.

Learning to advocate

Frierson had served in student leadership roles since middle school, but ASUN gave him his first opportunity to advocate within a large public institution.

As student body president, he learned that the Nevada Board of Regents was considering an increase in student fees. Recognizing that an increase was likely, Frierson asked then-Regents Chair and late Nevada governor Kenny Guinn whether students could help determine how the revenue would be used if he secured their support.

Guinn agreed.

Frierson persuaded enough students to support the proposal, despite some pushback.

“I got a lot of heat for it, but I got enough students to support it,” Frierson said. “We directed the money to the Student Health Center to hire more nurses to decrease the wait time in a real, meaningful way.”

Guinn told him he would become a politician someday.

The experience offered Frierson an early lesson in reading a room, finding common ground and turning a difficult policy decision into a tangible benefit for students.

His other projects ranged from installing the first bicycle pump station on campus to pressing the University to reinforce that the student union should prioritize student activities. Each reflected the same instinct: Identify a need and find a practical way to address it.

Frierson’s ASUN vice president was Steven Horsford, who also went on to build a career in public service and now represents Nevada in Congress.

Mentors who saw another future

Frierson credits several people at Nevada with holding him accountable, helping him navigate college and recognizing potential he had not yet identified in himself.

Staff members, including Melisa Choroszy, Pat Miltenberger, Rita Laden and Sandy Guidry, became resources throughout his student years and his later work on campus. Frierson said he gravitated toward people who expected him to meet the same standards as every other student, regardless of his status as an athlete. The most consequential guidance came from then University President Joe Crowley.

After graduating, Frierson remained at Nevada, working in the College of Human and Community Sciences. He attended college fairs on behalf of the University and advised first-year students across several of the college’s departments.

During that time, Crowley called him into his office and told him about a new law school preparing to open in Las Vegas. Crowley thought Frierson should consider applying.

Until then, law school had not felt accessible to him. Frierson did not know lawyers growing up and assumed the field centered on studying history, a subject that had never captured his interest.

Crowley’s encouragement changed that.

“He put that on my radar when I never would have even thought about it before he saw that in me,” Frierson said

Frierson also reached out to Frankie Sue Del Papa, a Nevada alumna, former ASUN president and former Nevada attorney general. Although they had met only briefly, Del Papa offered advice, exchanged emails with him and volunteered to serve as a reference.

A career centered on service

Frierson joined the inaugural class of the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There, he again became student body president and continued developing the advocacy skills he had strengthened at Nevada.

After law school, he worked in several areas of the legal profession, including as a public defender and deputy district attorney. Whether he was supporting a victim, advocating for a client or helping someone find a second chance, Frierson said the purpose remained consistent.

“I always found passion in helping people,” Frierson said. “I just always found a way to help people.”

His work as a public defender eventually led him to Carson City, where he lobbied on behalf of the Clark County Public Defender’s Office and the county as a whole during the 2007 and 2009 legislative sessions. The experience introduced him to policy issues across local government and gave him an opportunity to advocate for criminal justice reforms.

He also discovered that the legislative process felt familiar. The same skills he had developed as ASUN president, including listening, negotiating, forming relationships and advocating for a community, translated naturally to the Legislature.

In 2010, then-Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley encouraged Frierson to run for the seat she would leave because of term limits. He won and began serving in the Nevada Assembly in 2011.

Frierson served as speaker of the Nevada Assembly from 2017 to 2022, becoming the first Black person to hold the position in Nevada. He went on to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada before returning to state government and higher education.

The positions changed, but the thread connecting them did not. Each offered a different way to serve the people of Nevada and strengthen the systems affecting their lives.

Returning to higher education

Frierson now brings decades of experience in law, government and policy back to NSHE, the system where his own path began.

In the role, he has the opportunity to work with a new generation of student leaders, including student body presidents whose positions mirror the one that helped shape his own path.

Higher education, Frierson said, is part of a continuum that helps students move from school into meaningful careers and lives of service. It also plays a critical role in preparing the workforce Nevada needs to grow.

His own journey offers an example of what can happen when students remain open to paths they did not initially imagine and when mentors take the time to point out possibilities.

“I knew I wanted to help people. I think it was a foundation for caring for people, caring about people. It really was the foundation for me having a focus dedicated to service.” - Jason Frierson

Frierson came to Nevada through football, but the University gave him much more than sport: an identity beyond the injury, opportunities to lead, an education grounded in caring for communities and mentors who encouraged him to pursue paths he had never considered.

Ault said Frierson’s impact at Nevada extended beyond his time on the football field. “I always felt it a privilege to say Jason played for the Pack and, in doing so, left an indelible mark on our program,” Ault said. “His commitment and resolve to be a leader on and off the field, along with his high energy for public service within our state, made him, in my mind, the perfect spokesperson for understanding that success is a journey, not a destination.”

Those experiences now shape the advice he shares with students.

“I would encourage folks to be present so that people can see in them what maybe they don’t even see in themselves,” Frierson said. “I try to help students the way people were willing to help me.”