Robert L. McDonald

Robert L. McDonald was born in 1920 in Reno, Nevada, to Joseph F. and Leola Lewis McDonald. He attended the University of Santa Clara and the University of Nevada before his education was interrupted by World War II. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1941 and served in the 54th Fighter Squadron in the Aleutian Islands, eventually rising to major and squadron commander and flying P-51s from Iwo Jima. After the war he completed his legal studies at the University of San Francisco Law School, graduating in 1949 and becoming a member of the Nevada State Bar that same year.

McDonald began his legal career in public service as a Nevada Deputy Attorney General under Attorney General Alan Bible, and later as a United States Deputy Attorney. In 1952 he entered private practice in Reno in partnership with Bible under the name Bible & McDonald, a partnership that continued until Bible was elected to the United States Senate in 1954. McDonald went on to become a founding partner of the firm that grew into McDonald Carano, one of Nevada's most prominent law firms.

Beyond the practice of law, McDonald was a significant figure in the development of Northern Nevada. He founded several of the region's gaming companies, was a principal in the development of Incline Village, served on the board of Valley Bank of Nevada, and was an original partner in Boomtown and a part owner of the Bonanza Casino. He served as chairman of the Nevada Fish and Game Commission and was a trustee of the Reno National Championship Air Races. In his later years he founded Fun Camp, a program that funded summer camp trips for underprivileged children. He died on November 15, 2008.