When Bill Noonan’s granddaughters get a little older, he plans to bring them to Missouri State to show them around campus.
He hopes one of them will want to attend when the time comes. But more importantly, Noonan wants to show them the university where he established the Bill, Khloe and Tinsley Noonan Scholarship in their honor.
Khloe is 13 and Tinsley Rose is 7. They live minutes away from him in Las Vegas and are very close. Noonan jokes he’s Khloe’s “Uber driver,” and he walks Tinsley to school many days.
“I really wanted to do it so I’d have a long-term legacy with my granddaughters,” Noonan said. “My name and their name will forever be associated with the scholarship.”
Giving back to areas that matter to him
Noonan graduated from MSU in 1974 with a major in political science and minor in economics. After earning his bachelor’s, he pursued a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas.
“It was a very prestigious program; it was in the top three in the United States. And I never would’ve gotten in without the academic foundation I got at Missouri State,” Noonan said.
His older sister, Jan Noonan Fax, graduated in 1969 from MSU. She is the reason he wanted to attend: His sister always boasted about her great experience.
Noonan loved his time on campus and was active in student government and student academic committees, and was a member of what is now the equivalent of the Economics Club. He was also a founding member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Bonds with those brothers have lasted for decades.
“I have structured the scholarship so that an active member of Lambda Chi Alpha gets a preference when applying for one of them. It’s a way I can give back to the college, give back to the humanities and economics department, give back to my fraternity — and all in the honor of my two granddaughters,” Noonan said.
Establishing support for MSU faculty
Aside from the scholarships, he has established a professorship for public administration— his area of study.
Professorships help attract and retain stellar professors. Noonan said he had excellent professors in humanities and economics and wanted to pay it forward by supporting faculty.
When he first started thinking about giving back, Noonan called his longtime friend Brent Dunn, executive director of the Missouri State University Foundation and vice president of university advancement.
“I said, ‘You’re probably not the guy, but can you send me to someone who helps with establishing legacy charitable donations?’ and he said, ‘I am your guy.’
Brent helped me structure the whole program. We had it all put together and signed in less than 30 days. It was so easy. I couldn’t have done it without him,” Noonan said.
Building a career; holding leadership roles
After earning his master’s degree, Noonan was an assistant city manager in Springfield. He went on to become a city manager in two cities in Florida. Then in 1990, he was recruited to Las Vegas to be their city manager — and he’s lived in Vegas ever since.
In 1992, he was recognized by MSU for his career path by receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
In 1993, legalized gaming was expanding around the country. He was approached by gaming companies that wanted to expand, but didn’t understand local government. He had a unique skill set because he understood both government and gaming. He moved from the public to the private sector, and spent the rest of his career there.
Noonan ran an off-strip casino in Vegas for a while, then went to work for Boyd Gaming. During his time in Vegas, the city and gambling industry expanded tremendously.
In 2000, he was the Casino Management Association’s Gaming Professional of the Year.
In 2017, Noonan was sworn in as the chairman of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce. It was the first time in more than 20 years that someone from the gaming industry served as chair.
He also served as vice chairman of both the Nevada Resort Association and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and was a member of the County Health Board.
In July 2019, he retired as senior vice president and a corporate officer at Boyd Gaming.
Creating a legacy for his family after a loss
After retirement, Noonan and his wife of 38 years, Sylvia, were able to take a trip before the pandemic shut down travel. They loved to travel together and had visited Europe many times.
In 2022, Sylvia passed away. This prompted Noonan to start thinking about what to do to give back.
“When you get a little older, you start thinking about how you can pay it forward,” he said. “The scholarship and professorship were the first things that come to mind. It was a way to create a legacy for me and my granddaughters. I am proud to be able to give back to the Missouri State University Foundation.”
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