Shannon L. Bybee

Shannon L. Bybee was a lawyer, gaming regulator, casino executive, and educator who became one of the leading figures in the development of Nevada gaming law. Born August 29, 1938, in Tropic, Utah, he served with the U.S. Army as a military policeman at West Point before earning his law degree and entering practice. In 1971 he was appointed to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, where he served four years and earned a reputation as a pioneer in gaming regulation and integrity.

After his public service, Mr. Bybee spent more than two decades in the gaming industry, holding senior leadership positions including senior vice president of Golden Nugget Inc., president of Golden Nugget Atlantic City Corp., chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Claridge Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, and president and chief operating officer of United Gaming Inc. He was a founding member of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys and a former president of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, and he was among the first industry figures to champion problem gambling research and treatment - work for which the American Gaming Association honored him.

In 1994 Mr. Bybee joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as executive director of its International Gaming Institute and a professor in the College of Hotel Administration, and he also served as a visiting professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law. Colleagues remembered him as a pioneer whose experience as both regulator and executive proved invaluable to his students and to the field. His career was chronicled in the book 'Shannon Bybee: Evidence of a Serendipitous Career in Gaming.' He died September 18, 2003, in Las Vegas at the age of 65.