The William S. Boyd School of Law has received the 2026 Civic Engagement and Community Service Award from Insight Into Academia in recognition of its longstanding commitment to public service, civic engagement, and community partnerships. The national award reflect's Boyd Lay's innovation and a sustained commitment to community partnership through volunteerism, advocacy, civic participation, public education, fundraising, voter engagement, and related initiatives.

UNLV Special Collections & Archives is working with Nellis Air Force Base to digitize its collection of more than 50,000 newspaper pages, with some articles dating back to the base's earliest days in World War II. The process will preserve the base's rich history and make it accessible to the public and future generations of Airmen.  

UNLV earned a highly competitive award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Sloan Centers for Systemic Change initiative, which will help transform STEM doctoral education through targeted recruitment, mentoring, and student success efforts. The award will support over 30 STEM doctoral students while establishing sustainable practices that strengthen graduate education and position UNLV as a leader in the STEM community and workforce at UNLV, in the Las Vegas Valley, and beyond. 

A gift from the Molasky family has established the Molasky Family Department of Economics and Real Estate at Lee Business School, the first named academic department in UNLV history. Funding will support student scholarships, experiential learning and mentorships, faculty research and fellowships, and industry connections. It also advances the Building Business Together campaign to construct a new Business Academic Building. 

The Kerkorian School of Medicine’s Medical Education Building earned LEED Platinum Certification for operations and maintenance – the highest tier of the world's most widely used green building rating system. The distinction indicates that the building represents the peak of sustainability and meets strict criteria for energy efficiency and environmental health.  

UNLV students are earning national recognition for helping shape the future of work. The university's Collegiate 100 chapter placed third in the National Collegiate 100 Workforce Development Challenge at the 40th Annual 100 Black Men of America National Convention in New York City. Students Guylan Belser and Ryan Staples proposal explored how AI literacy, mentorship, entrepreneurship, industry partnerships, and career readiness can better prepare students for tomorrow's workforce. As the collegiate division of the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas, the chapter empowers students through leadership development, education, mentoring, and economic opportunity.

The UNLV School of Nursing received a $2.3 million federal appropriation that prepares nursing professionals for the challenges of modern health care. The funding supports a collaborative initiative with the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and University Medical Center (UMC) to develop innovative educational technologies, including a new nursing research data center and advanced digital simulation environments for clinical training. Through the partnership, UNLV faculty and UMC nurses will work together to incorporate real-world clinical challenges into undergraduate and graduate nursing education. The project will also integrate augmented and virtual reality technologies, allowing students to practice clinical skills on virtual avatars in a safe, risk-free setting. In addition to expanding hands-on learning opportunities for nursing students, the initiative will create interdisciplinary experiences for computer science students applying computational methods to real-world health care challenges.

UNLV Golf celebrated a standout year as both the men’s and women’s programs captured Mountain West Conference championships. The women’s golf team secured its second consecutive Mountain West championship, marking the program’s ninth league title overall and the sixth under head coach Amy Bush-Herzer. The repeat victory also marked the women’s program’s first back-to-back conference championships since winning three straight titles from 2016-18. The men’s team claimed the 2026 conference title — the program’s sixth overall and first under head coach Jean-Paul Hebert — while junior Zach Little earned the individual conference championship, giving UNLV its first sweep of both the team and individual titles since 2018.