As we prepare to gather with our families for the Thanksgiving holiday, I must share the heartbreaking news that the very first chair of our department, Hart Wegner, passed away last night after an extended period of in-home hospice care. He was 93 years old. 

We send our love and deepest condolences to Wegner's beloved wife, Winnie, and all his children, grandchildren, and extended family.

During the more than four decades that Wegner served as a faculty member at UNLV (which included his time as chair of the Department of Film and Interim Dean of the College of Fine Arts), he had an extraordinary impact not only on this institution and its students, but also the film discipline and the literary arts.

Wegner was truly a Renaissance man: a scholar, historian, essayist, poet, short story writer, interviewer, and lifelong student of the humanities. His lively and courageous engagement with cinema and all aspects of the arts was extraordinary. We look forward to celebrating and commemorating his invaluable contributions and the indelible impact he had on our intellectual and creative journeys. 

With love and sorrow,

Heather Addison