In July 2021, Dr. Daniel Bubb, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and long-time deputy director of the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame has accepted the executive director position, replacing retiring Director TD Barnes. Director Emeritus Barnes will remain with the NVAHOF as a consultant and board member.

ABOUT DR. DANIEL BUBB

From age five, I have been fascinated with airplanes and airports. My parents would drive me to the local airport so that I could watch airplanes take off and land. At age seventeen, I took my first introductory flight, and it was then I knew that I wanted to become a commercial pilot.

As I progressed through my licenses and ratings, I became a flight instructor, and at age twenty-two, achieved my dream. Air Vegas Airlines hired me as a First Officer to fly Beechcraft 99s, fifteen-seat, turbopropeller-driven passenger planes. My experience as a commercial pilot taught me much about airplanes and airports, especially how critical they are to city, regional, and national economies.

As I pursued my masters and doctoral degrees, this symbiotic relationship sharply came into focus. My first book, Landing in Las Vegas: Commercial Aviation and the Making of a Tourist City highlighted this theme using Las Vegas as a case study. Currently, I am expanding that theme to the broader American West, but with a different twist: how airports culturally provide and represent a sense of place to air travelers and residents.

Throughout my research as a historian, I have discovered the importance of telling the story about the airplane’s impact on the growth and development of the American West. Without a doubt, the airplane profoundly impacted the region by shrinking it through speed, space, and time. At the same time, it is equally important to tell the story of the role that airports played in the economic and cultural growth and development of the American West, which is what my future books aspire to do.

I still fly airplanes for fun, and they frequently remind me why I fell in love with them when I was a young lad.