Nevada Board of Regents re-elect Chair Trachok and Vice-Chair Wixom

The Nevada Board of Regents today re-elected Rick Trachok as chairman and Michael Wixom as vice chairman of the 13-member higher education governing body.

Regents Trachok and Wixom will begin their second one-year terms starting July 1.

Chairman Trachok was appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval to serve on the Board of Regents beginning September 3, 2011 and was retained in the 2012 and 2014 elections as the representative for District 10.

This is his second term as chairman and he previously served two terms as vice chairman of the Board (2013-2014 and 2014-2015). He has served as chair of the Workforce, Research and Economic Development Committee and a member of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, Cultural Diversity Committee, as well as the ad hoc UNLV President Search Committee.

He is a senior partner at Lewis Roca Rothgerber in Reno. Regent Trachok focuses his practice in the areas of regulatory and gaming law, utility regulation, and commercial law. He joined the firm in July 2012 and is the former lead outside regulatory counsel for NV Energy. In 2008, he was included in the Nevada Business Journal’s “Legal Elite,” issue as one of Nevada’s top international gaming and regulatory law attorneys.

Trachok earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1974, where he was an athlete on the track, skiing and cross-country teams, as well as a member of the agriculture academic honor society, Gamma Sigma Delta. Following graduation, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1974-1977. He earned a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from California Western School of Law in 1980 and a master of laws degree from Cambridge University, Sidney Sussex College in 1984.

He is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of Nevada, Washington DC and New York and is a member of the Nevada, Washoe County and American Bar Associations, as well as the American Arbitration Association, District of Columbia Bar Association, New York Bar Association and International Bar Association. Trachok was a deputy district attorney with the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office before going into private practice in 1981. He has served as a member of the Nevada Board of Bar Examiners since 1991 and has served as chairman since 2000.

Trachok served 15 years as an adjunct professor at UNR, teaching construction law in the graduate construction management program (1988-2003) and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law teaching the Law of International Trade. He currently serves on the emeritus board of trustees for Sage Ridge School. He previously served on the board of directors for numerous civic organizations including The Nature Conservancy of Nevada and Nevada Opera, Tahoe Rim Trail, Reno Chamber Orchestra and the Reno Philharmonic.

He is married to Cathy and has two children.

Michael Wixom was appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn to serve on the Board of Regents in 2005 and was elected in 2006. He was re-elected in 2010. He is the representative for Clark County, District 6.

This is his second term as vice chairman and he previously served two terms as Board chair (2007-2008 and 2008-2009) He is also a member of the ad hoc Committee on Athletics.

He also served as chair of the Business and Finance Committee and vice chair of the Investment and Facilities Committee. He was a member of the Community College Committee and the Health Sciences System Committee.

In July 2013, he was chosen to serve on the UNLV Campus Improvement Authority Board of Directors. He also served on the Interim Legislative Committee to Study the Funding of Higher Education.

Wixom was born and raised in Blackfoot, Idaho. After graduating from Blackfoot High School, he attended Idaho State University, where he majored in political science and economics. He graduated from Idaho State University with a bachelor of science degree in 1980, earning High Honors. He later attended the University of Utah, College of Law, graduating in 1986 as a William L. Leary Scholar, and was a member of the Utah Law Review.

He has practiced law in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1986, and is a shareholder in the law firm of Smith Larsen & Wixom. His areas of practice include banking, real estate finance and commercial transactions.

He and his wife, Heidi, have six daughters and four grandsons.