LAS VEGAS - September 29, 2008 -When Jeffrey Moskow teaches his "current business topics" class and reviews The Wall Street Journal with college seniors, all other worries fade away - even the cancer he is battling. Moskow and his students discuss a wide range of topics from Social Security and Facebook.com to the New York Jets and the financial crisis on Wall Street. The class combines opinion, humor and personal experiences. However, the cancer diagnosis prompted Moskow, a part-time instructor at the UNLV College of Business, to question if and how the class would continue. He wanted a way to create a public discourse outside of a classroom that would spark conversations among students and give them opportunities to ask questions, seek answers and learn about the world around them. At the same time, he wanted to honor the people who influenced him the most.

Moskow, 60, thought of his parents, who were "intellectually curious" and who enjoyed lively debates. He also thought of his college days at The Wharton School of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Irvine, where notable guests lectured frequently and students were excited to see prominent names on campus. Moskow wanted to create the same tradition at UNLV. His donation of $1 million to start a speaker series is an ideal way to accomplish his goal, Moskow says.

"Moskow's impact as a teacher and as an advocate of lifelong learning has a much greater impact than any dollar amount could have," said Paul Jarley, dean of the college of business. "We are moved by Jeff's courage and his generous donation. Business affects many facets of our lives and having speakers from various disciplines gives students a great way to see how each field is related to another."

Established in the names of his parents, the Morris and Sylvia Moskow Speaker Series kicks off during homecoming week on Thursday, Oct. 16 with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and television critic Alessandra Stanley. Their talk begins at 10 a.m. in the Student Union Theater and is open to students and faculty only.

Moskow, who has taught at UNLV for five years, continues to teach a 50-minute class four times a week this fall while undergoing medical treatment for kidney cancer.

About Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd is a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist for The New York Times opinion page. Before her career as a columnist, Dowd was the Time's White House correspondent and metropolitan reporter. She has reported for The Washington Star as a sports columnist, metropolitan reporter and feature writer. She also reported for Time Magazine.

About Alessandra Stanley

Alessandra Stanley has been a television critic for The New York Times for the last five years. Previously she was the paper's bureau chief in Moscow and Rome. Stanley has also worked for Time Magazine, beginning as a stringer in Paris and was later assigned to the Los Angeles and New York bureaus. She also worked in the magazine's Washington bureau where she covered presidential campaigns and The White House.