Donald L. Carano

Donald Louis Carano was born on October 17, 1931, in Reno, Nevada. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of San Francisco and served two years as an officer in the United States Army before returning to USF, where he graduated with honors from the USF Law School. Admitted to the Nevada bar in 1959, he began his law practice in Reno, where he would build a career centered on real estate and gaming law.

Mr. Carano was a founding member of the prestigious McDonald Carano law firm, and he maintained an 'of counsel' relationship with the firm until his passing, assisting the firm's partners on complicated real estate and political matters. His contributions to the profession were recognized by his alma mater, which honored him as its Alumnus of the Year, and by the University of Nevada, which named him a Distinguished Nevadan in 2017.

Beyond the practice of law, Mr. Carano was a pioneer across the gaming, law, and wine industries. In 1973 he opened the Eldorado Hotel Casino, the first major casino to open on Virginia Street north of the railroad tracks, a venture that reshaped gaming in northern Nevada; in 1993 he partnered with Mandalay Resorts to open the Silver Legacy, Reno's first mega-themed resort. With his wife he founded Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma County, California, in 1981. He passed away on October 3, 2017, at the age of 85.