Alumni success

We are so very proud of the alumni who have passed through our department as majors, minors or graduate students. Philosophy is the study of disciplined thinking—the ability to read and listen critically, to address problems systematically, and to express ideas articulately in writing and speech. Whether you come to us for cultural enrichment or as a basis for the advanced study of philosophy, you will find that the skills you develop open up doors to a number of career opportunities. Our alumni apply their philosophical training to a diverse array of professions in our local community and across the world as accountants, banking associates, business executives, digital communications specialists, freelance journalists, IT consultants, lawyers, law enforcement, military officers, park rangers, policy analysts, public servants, teachers, therapists, scientists, small business owners and more.

Among the many talented alumni of our department are the following:

  • Johanna “Mimi” (Dailey) Butler (BA ’86), Co-Owner of Buenos Grill in Reno, NV
  • Stephanie Hansen (BA ’99), Plasma Physicist and Senior Scientist in the Pulsed Power Sciences Center of Sandia National Laboratories, and also a Visiting Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Cornell University
  • Marcelo Pimentel (MA ’99), Professor of Philosophy at Santiago Canyon College, CA
  • Max Alderman (BA ’11), former Marshall Scholar and federal law clerk for the Honorable Jennifer A. Dorsey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, now Associate at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP in San Francisco, CA
  • Coty Hall (BA ’11), Lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard
  • Danielle Davis (BA ’13), Deputy Public Defender for Washoe County Public Defender’s Office
  • Mark Mendoza (BA ’13), former Gene Therapy Research Technician at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, now Ph.D. student in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Washington

“My philosophy minor turned out to be more valuable than I ever expected. My coursework provided me an invaluable framework for examining the legal and ethical questions that I have confronted as a law student--those faced by lawyers and their clients as well as those which shape entire doctrines of law over time. My philosophy professors challenged me not just to learn, but to learn how to think. In the process, I became comfortable with the Socratic method, which allowed me to confidently answer cold calls as a first-year law student. I also found community in the department and the philosophy club. My ‘minor’ made a major difference to me as a student, a law school applicant, and as a future lawyer.” 

~Ivy Ziedrich, Philosophy minor, Class of 2018, now an Associate at Latham & Watkins LLP in Washington, D.C.

Employers of recent alumni

We are always happy to highlight alumni success stories and placement, so please reach out to philosophy@unr.edu if you would like to be featured.

  • Bally Technologies
  • Black Swan Consulting
  • Brindle McCormack, P.C.
  • Buck Institute for Research on Aging
  • Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada
  • Catholic Diocese of Reno
  • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
  • Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy
  • Great Basin Psychiatry
  • Greater Nevada Credit Union
  • Guinn Center
  • Kaitlyn Miller Law
  • Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP
  • Latham & Watkins LLP
  • Lemons, Grundy, & Eisenberg Law
  • Nevada Air National Guard
  • Nevada Judiciary
  • Nevada System of Higher Education
  • Nevada Youth Black Democratic Caucus
  • Plymouth Housing
  • Renown Health
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Santos Law, PLLC
  • State Governments of California and Nevada
  • Surratt Law Practice, P.C.
  • The Honorable Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto
  • The Severson Group
  • Tissot Solutions
  • United States Army
  • United States Coast Guard
  • United States Federal Government
  • United States Federal Judiciary
  • United Way
  • University of Nevada, Reno’s Office of Information Technology
  • Volunteer Attorneys for Rural Nevadans Aerotek