To say that Jeremy Aguero has been in the limelight lately would be an understatement.

“There are tailgates at our public meetings,” says Aguero, who over the past 18 months has been at the epicenter of the UNLV/Raiders stadium deal. As the lead staff for the state’s Las Vegas Stadium Authority, Aguero is working on the negotiations of critical contracts and leasing agreements—details that are not only shaping the stadium project but also the future of Las Vegas.

Aguero’s reserved manner makes him seem more suited to the behind-the-scenes kind of work typically associated with his data analytics consulting firm, Applied Analysis, which in addition to state and local governments serves housing developers and the real estate, technology, and gaming/hospitality sectors.

But the career path of this fourth-generation Las Vegan wasn’t always clear. “As a student at UNLV, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” says Aguero, reflecting on the numerous majors he considered before landing on hospitality.

He credits much of his eventual student success to UNLV's International Gaming Institute founder, professor Shannon Bybee, who pushed him into rigorous economics and honors classes and then on to law school. “He knew what was best for me,” says Aguero, a 2004 graduate of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. “I would not be where I am without him.”

Today as Las Vegas prepares to welcome its first NFL team, Aguero finds himself in the middle of an historic moment—a moment for which Aguero says he came prepared: “There is no such thing as a rough draft in life. When you come to the table, preparation and diligence are the keys to meaningful progress.”