Touro University Nevada Honors Caesars Entertainment and Shelley Berkley for Their Longstanding Commitment to the Institution During Annual Gala
Touro University Nevada honored Caesars Entertainment and Shelley Berkley, Senior Vice President of the Touro University System, for their support and commitment to the institution during the 2023 Touro University Gala at Four Seasons Las Vegas.
The annual event, which was sold out with nearly 600 guests in attendance, is Touro’s cornerstone event to help raise funds to enhance the educational experience for its medical and healthcare students.
During the Gala, Caesars Entertainment was presented with the Touro Award of Distinction, which recognizes community partners who have played a vital role in the development and advancement of the university. Caesars Entertainment has been supporting Touro for a decade, providing philanthropic efforts to fund multiple university initiatives and therapeutic services for the Sharon Sigesmund Pierce and Stephen Pierce Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities’ patients and their families. Tom Reeg, Chief Executive Officer of Caesars Entertainment, accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
View the 2023 Touro Gala photo album on FlickrBerkley was also presented with the Touro Award of Distinction for her more than nine years of service to the Touro University System. Berkley was hired as CEO & Senior Provost of Touro Western Division in 2014 before being promoted to Senior Vice President of the Touro University System in July 2022.
“I am honored to have received this recognition during the Touro University Gala, which is our signature fundraising event to help improve the quality of education for our students who are the future physicians and healthcare professionals that Nevada desperately needs,” Berkley said. “Every year, organizations, corporations, and individuals across Southern Nevada proudly support Touro and our mission: To provide quality professional programs in the fields of healthcare and education in concert with the Judaic commitment to social justice, intellectual pursuit, and service to humanity.”
Berkley’s most notable accomplishments at Touro University Nevada include:
- Expanding annual enrollment of its medical school from 130 to 180 students. In 10 years, Touro will graduate roughly half of the estimated physicians needed in the state.
- Guiding the University through the unprecedented times of COVID-19, which included the transition to virtual learning, ensuring Touro served on the frontlines, beginning with testing and treating the Valley’s homeless population at Cashman Center in the earliest days of the pandemic.
- Securing a $3 million endowment from the State of Qatar in 2020 to support Touro’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, allowing Touro to hire more therapists and increase the number of families served.
- Helping to raise millions of dollars to enhance the medical education at Touro by securing partnerships with several donors and organizations across Nevada.
- Establishing the Touro Gala, which has raised more than $1 million for students while attracting notable guest speakers, including U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the late Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis, former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi, and NBC News reporter Kerry Sanders.
