Governor Grant Sawyer
The Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies was named after the late Governor Grant Sawyer (1918-1996). The son of Harry William and Bula Belle Cameron Sawyer, he was born in Twin Falls, Idaho on December 14, 1918. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1941. He was a World War II veteran and an American politician. He served as the 21st Governor of Nevada from 1959-1967. While in office he advanced desegregation and civil rights, a human rights commission was created, the state government was restructured and a gambling commission was established. In 1967, Sawyer co-founded the law offices of Lionel Sawyer & Collins.