Bo Bernhard
Assistant Professor of Sociology |
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Bo J. Bernhard is an honors graduate of Harvard University, where he double majored in sociology and psychology. His final undergraduate thesis (on the social impacts of gambling in Las Vegas) received magna cum laude honors from both departments. This thesis led him to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he received his Ph.D. in sociology in 2002. A frequent lecturer on the impacts of the gaming industry in communities around the world, he has delivered over four dozen keynote addresses on six continents. In addition, he has conducted gaming policy advisory work in Brazil, Singapore, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and a number of U.S. jurisdictions. Dr. Bernhard currently holds professorships in UNLV’s departments of sociology and hotel management, and serves as Director of Gambling Research at the university’s International Gaming Institute. In 2002, Dr. Bernhard’s research and teaching accomplishments earned him the inaugural Shannon Bybee Award from the Nevada and National Councils on Problem Gambling. This award was created to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of problem gambling. He serves on the Executive Board of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, and on the national board of directors for the National Council on Problem Gambling. He is a founding board member of The Problem Gambling Center, the Las Vegas area’s primary treatment and research service organization. Most recently, he was invited to serve on a newly-created advisory board for the National Center for Responsible Gaming, based at the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School. The latter organization has also awarded Dr. Bernhard an adjunct research professorship to support his research on problem gambling prevention. In Southern Nevada, his work has been recognized by Nathan Adelson Hospice, which gave him a "Heart Award" for community service, and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which gave him an "Excellence Award" for his community contributions. In 2006, he was named "International Educator of the Year" by the World Affairs Council, an international organization that promotes critical discussion of global affairs. Dr. Bernhard's publications have emphasized an evaluation of gambling’s social costs and benefits from a perspective that blends macro insights from sociology with the micro and clinical applications of psychology. His peer-reviewed work has been published in prestigious cross-disciplinary journals such as The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and American Behavioral Scientist. Most recently, he was asked to co-edit a special volume of American Behavioral Scientist that will focus on sociological and community perspectives on pathological gambling. He currently serves as a principal or co-principal investigator for nearly $500,000 in research grant projects examining the impacts of gambling in society, and actively seeks projects that fund graduate and undergraduate research. His studies have been prominently featured in local and national media coverage, and have been highlighted in nationally televised programs on CNN, CNNfn, CNN Headline News, The Discovery Health Channel, Telemundo, PBS, NPR, and The History Channel. A fifth-generation Las Vegan, Dr. Bernhard is currently at work on a book entitled Vice Capades, a historical and sociological perspective on those who gamble to excess. |
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