Cathy McAdoo

Regent Cathy McAdoo was elected to serve on the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education in the 2016 election as the representative for District 8.

She currently serves as chair of the Board. She is also vice chair of the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee and the Audit, Compliance and Title IX Committee.

In January 2018, Regent McAdoo was appointed by Governor Brian Sandoval to serve as the representative of the Nevada System of Higher Education on the State Board of Education. She was reappointed to the position by Governor Steve Sisolak in September 2020 and again in September 2021.

Regent McAdoo was born in Oklahoma and reared in Kansas, eventually moving to Nevada with her husband Kent who had accepted a graduate research study with the University of Nevada, Reno. While living in the outback of rural Nevada for 13 months, trailing a band of sheep for Kent’s research project, the couple found rural Nevada irresistible and has called it home ever since. They chose to live in Elko, where Regent McAdoo most recently served as the founding Executive Director of PACE Coalition, a nonprofit organization whose mission included educating students in Elko, Eureka and White Pine counties about healthy life choices. This position afforded her 14 years of board experience at PACE and the opportunity to serve on other boards.

Regent McAdoo’s interest in serving Nevada as an NSHE Regent stems from her own passion for life-long learning. Through her career pathway, volunteer activities, love for people, and her commitment to healthy communities, education remains at the core of what she does and who she is.

Education

• Grand Canyon University, 2008
  B.S. in Applied Management
• Great Basin College, Elko, 2006
  Associate of Arts

Professional Experience

• Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist
• Results Based Conversation Facilitator
• Grant Writer
• 40 Developmental Assets Trainer
• Elko Area Leadership Institute Instructor
• Adjunct Instructor
  Great Basin College, Elko

Civic and Professional Affiliations

• Elko Area Chamber of Commerce
• Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.)
• Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital Governing Board, Vice Chair
• Nevada Public Health Foundation Board, Secretary
• Operation Military Kids Nevada Management Team
• Nevada Statewide Partnership of Coalitions
• Elko Kiwanis Club, Past President

Honors and Awards

• Freedom Service Corp Volunteer Award from President George W. Bush
• Nevada Women’s Legacy – 150 Years of Excellence Honoree
• Co-presenter of Basque Herders-the End of An Era at National Trailing of the Sheep Festival
• National Community Anti Drug Coalition of America Presenter
• National Above the Influence community day live streamed to the White House
• Frontier Communications’ Non Profit Partner for Business After Hours
• Elko Area Chamber of Commerce Non Profit Business of the Year
• Great Basin College Community Service Member of the Year
• KTSN Radio Non-Profit Executive Director Award
• Elko County Commissioners’ Community Service Award
• Office of National Drug Control Policy Director’s Award for Distinguished Service
• Division of Child and Family Services Bridge Builder