Lonnie Wright, '78 BS Hotel Administration, '84 Masters of Secondary Education, '15 PhD Curriculum and Instruction, is a tenured professor at CSN where he has taught for 25 years. At CSN he has served as program director for the hospitality program, two terms as department chair in hospitality management, and as dean and associate vice president of the Hospitality Institute. He previously taught at UNLV's William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration and served as a dean of the Hotel School at the American College of Singapore. An entrepreneur, he launched the Urban American Television Network — one of the first African-American television networks — as chairman/CEO and majority stockholder. Later he bought the controlling shares of Shetakis Wholesaler, a distributing company. He now has a partnership in a Carl's Jr. restaurant at McCarran International Airport. He and his wife have a consulting company, Hospitality International, that has trained Native American tribes to open hotels and casinos throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has been appointed by three governors to serve on the Governors Commission on Juvenile and Adult Corrections. He also serves on the board of Innovation International Charter School of Nevada and just finished serving as chairman of the Executive Board of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Nevada. He says he is most proud of having been a founder in 1977 of the UNLV Basketball Alumni Association, which helps former student-athletes return to finish their degrees; starting a program at CSN to train homeless people in culinary arts with the Salvation Army; and the Hospitality International Training program, which provides culinary training for prisoners. He says he loves giving back to the community, just as the community gave to him when the Upward Bound program paid for him to take college courses while he was a student at Western High School. His hobbies include chess, golf, traveling, and spending time with family. He and his wife, Sherrie, a retired hotel executive, have three grown children and four grandchildren.