Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Brookings Institution, has announced its lineup of visiting scholars for the fall 2025 semester. The scholars will address a range of public policy issues such as college access, higher education finance, climate policy, transportation and water infrastructure, workforce and economic development, and teacher diversity and quality.
Each year, visiting scholars from Brookings participate in classroom activities and research with UNLV students and faculty. They also engage with community leaders to share their expertise on policy matters. Some scholars will deliver free lectures that are open to the public.
Members of the UNLV community can request presentations or meetings with any of the visiting scholars by submitting an online form.
The first scheduled lecture is on Tuesday, September 30. Sarah Reber, a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings and Cabot Family Chair, will present “Improving Schools to Promote Upward Mobility: The Promise and Limits of School Finance Reforms.” According to the announcement: "The lecture will examine funding and other reforms that offer the best policy interventions to improve schools."
On Wednesday, October 15, Joseph Kane, a fellow at Brookings Metro, will give a talk titled “U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs & Recent Policy Developments.” The session will focus on regional and national water infrastructure challenges and how policymakers are addressing future needs. As stated in the release: "The lecture will explore challenges to regional and national water infrastructure and ways that policymakers are launching water infrastructure plans to meet future needs."
Sarah Reber’s visit is scheduled for September 29 through October 2. Her research covers topics such as college access, education finance policy, and school desegregation. She previously held academic positions at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and was affiliated with organizations like the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Joseph Kane will be at UNLV from October 13-16. His work focuses on infrastructure policy and economic development with attention to workforce issues in sectors like water and energy. He also teaches graduate courses at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Michael Hansen is set to visit November 3-6. Hansen is a senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings’ Brown Center on Education Policy. His research includes teacher policy, school accountability, teacher diversity, student access to quality teaching, and STEM learning.