Cultural center namesake was newspaperman, philanthropist

The name Donald W. Reynolds is likely familiar to many Las Vegas residents, as his name graces the 36,000-square-foot cultural center that houses the Nevada Ballet Theatre at 1651 Inner Circle Drive in Summerlin.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is headquartered nearby at 1701 Village Center Circle. Farther east, Reynolds' name appears on the headquarters for Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Drive.

Who was Donald Worthington Reynolds?

Reynolds was born Sept. 23, 1906, in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Gaines W. Reynolds, a wholesale grocery salesman, and his wife, Anna Louise. Not long after the birth, his family moved to Oklahoma City, where he got his first job in the newspaper business, "hawking" copies of the Oklahoma News at the local railroad station.

He attended the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, working at a meat packing plant to pay for his studies. He was business manager of the university's yearbook.

After graduating in 1927, Reynolds worked in various newspaper positions - selling ads, doing graphic design and reporting news. He was ambitious and wanted to strike out on his own.

The entrepreneur's first business venture was a photo engraving plant, made possible by borrowing money from a local loan shark. But it was the news media where he would make his mark.

After the engraving business, he purchased the Quincy Evening News in Massachusetts. He positioned it to merge with another paper and sold the expanded business after owning it only two years. The proceeds from that sale were enough to buy two newspapers - the Okmulgee Daily Times in Oklahoma and the Southwest Times Record in Arkansas. Those two papers launched the Donrey Media Group, now Stephens Media Group, which owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal and View Neighborhood Newspapers.

When America became involved in World War II, Reynolds served as the officer in charge of the Pacific and London editions of Yank, a weekly magazine published by the United States military. Yank provided soldiers with morale boosters, including a pin-up girl, found in each edition. Not all of Reynolds' work was behind a desk. He received the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He was honorably discharged in 1945 with the rank of major.

After the war, Reynolds expanded his business reach to more than 100 media outlets, including radio and television stations, cable television operations, newspapers and billboard companies.

Richard Bryan, former U.S. senator for Nevada, met Reynolds on only a couple of occasions when he was invited to the media mogul's home for events. He called the businessman "a political force to be reckoned with" and, although they were on opposite sides of the spectrum, said he was always treated fairly when written about in the newspaper.

He credited Reynolds with a savvy sense for building his empire.

"He obviously was very sophisticated in business to build that kind of an empire; it was probably one of the largest," Bryan said. "We're not talking about a Hearst or a Pulitzer, we're talking about somebody who ... he had to be one of the great success stories of the 20th century."

Don Digilio was editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal for about 20 years. He recalled being sent to one of the publisher's lavish homes in the Lake Tahoe area, Arkansas or California for annual editors' meetings. There were as many as 30 editors there, he said, a visual reminder of how many papers the mogul owned.

"I don't think he was a real easy person to talk to; he wasn't long on conversation," said Digilio. "I was never too impressed with the way he treated his employees. He didn't encourage his employees to engage in other businesses, especially those at a higher level. ... After 20 years with the paper, he asked me to resign because I was getting involved in a business with some other investors, and the Wall Street Journal carried a story about it, and I think it really upset him, so he asked me to resign."

Reynolds was regularly named on Forbes magazine's list of billionaires.

He died April 5, 1993, while on a yacht bound for Barcelona, Spain, off the northwest coast of Italy. He was 86.

Soon after, the Donrey Media Group's business interests were sold. According to Forbes, Reynolds' three children - Nancy, Donald and Jonathan - were to receive trust income of $50,000 a year for life but would be left with only $1 if they contested his will and were unsuccessful.

The sale of Donrey Media resulted in a substantial bequest from the Reynolds estate to provide for the foundation as it exists today.

Reynolds awarded some of his largest gifts through his foundation - $9.5 million to his alma mater for constructing an alumni center, $4 million to create the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and $4 million to develop the Donald W. Reynolds Student Services Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The foundation continues his philanthropy, focusing on journalism, aging and quality of life, cardiovascular research and general nonprofit programs in Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma. Many grants follow a commitment to capital ventures, in keeping with Reynolds' well-known passion for building.

Nevada Public Radio was one of seven recipients to receive a grant from the foundation in 1996, out of 1,300 candidates.

Flo Rogers, president and general manager of NPR, said it came with an added bonus.

"They built this entire building and equipped it," she said. "That's really unusual when you approach these foundations. Usually, they build you a building, then you go off to raise a bunch of money to put stuff in it. ... We needed a full complement of tools so we can deliver on our mission. The fact that they saw that and recognized that was extremely meaningful."

In accordance with its articles of incorporation, the foundation is designated to terminate rather than continue in perpetuity. The Board of Trustees has determined that the foundation will cease to make grants in or before 2022.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.