LeRoy Brown, first President of the University from 1887 to 1889
Brown, a former Ohio education commission member, was a cashier at an Ohio bank when he was selected by the Nevada Board of Regents to serve as president. A veteran of the Civil War, Brown selected his first assistant and faculty member, Hannah K. Clapp of Carson City, who would go on to serve the University as librarian and instructor for 14 years. Within two years Brown built a faculty of 10 and student body of 127 in the fields of Liberal Arts and Mechanical Arts, Normal School, Mining and Agriculture, and a Commercial Department.