Richard Bryan
Richard Hudson Bryan (born July 16, 1937) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1989 to 2001. A Democrat, Bryan served as the 25th Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989, and before that served as the state's attorney general and a member of the State Senate.
Richard Bryan | |
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| United States Senator from Nevada | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Chic Hecht |
| Succeeded by | John Ensign |
| Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Terry Sanford |
| Succeeded by | Mitch McConnell |
| 25th Governor of Nevada | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Lieutenant | Bob Cashell Bob Miller |
| Preceded by | Robert List |
| Succeeded by | Bob Miller |
| 27th Attorney General of Nevada | |
| In office January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983 | |
| Governor | Robert List |
| Preceded by | Robert List |
| Succeeded by | Brian McKay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Hudson Bryan July 16, 1937 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (1971–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Bonnie Fairchild
(m. 1962; died 2016) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Nevada, Reno (BA) University of California, Hastings (JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1959–1960 |
Early life
Bryan was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1959 where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the president of ASUN.[1] He earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 1963 he was admitted to the Nevada Bar. He was Clark County's first public defender.[2]
Political career
Bryan served as a member of the Nevada Senate from 1972 to 1978. In 1979, Bryan became the Nevada Attorney General, and served in the position until 1983. Bryan was the Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989.
Bryan successfully ran for the U.S. Senate, serving from 1989 to 2001. During his tenure in the Senate, Bryan served on the Finance, Banking, Intelligence and Commerce Committees. He opted not to run for re-election in 2000.[3]
Bryan was an opponent of Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), stating: "As of today millions have been spent and we have yet to bag a single little green fellow. Not a single Martian has said take me to your leader, and not a single flying saucer has applied for FAA approval." He introduced an amendment to the 1994 budget that secured the cancellation of the High Resolution Microwave Survey and terminated NASA's SETI efforts less than one year after their launch.[4][5] NASA criticized Bryan for his opposition to the SETI program.[6]
Bryan also focused on preventing Yucca Mountain from being used as a nuclear waste long-term storage site. Though the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository would be built during Bryan's time in the Senate, his opposition, along with delayed any actual storage from occurring. This opposition would continue after Bryan had retired before plans for storage were discontinued by President Barack Obama.[3]
References
- "Famous ATOs". Alpha Tau Omega. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- "After A Life Time Of Service, Richard Bryan Honored By Las Vegas, ACLU". Nevada Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
- Bryan Not to Seek Re-election Washington Post, 19/02/99, Retrieved 12/04/18
- Alexander, Amir. "A History of SETI - Explore the Cosmos". The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
- H. Paul Shuch, ed. (2011). Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI past, present, and future. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-13195-0.
- Garber, Stephen. "Searching for Good Science: The Cancellation of NASA's SETI Program" (PDF). Nasa History Office. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
External links
- United States Congress. "Richard Bryan (id: B000993)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- A Guide to the U.S. Senatorial Papers of Richard H. Bryan, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.
- How Richard Bryan destroyed the NASA's SETI project
- Richard H Bryan's current professional page
- Appearances on C-SPAN
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert E. Rose |
Democratic nominee for Governor of Nevada 1982, 1986 |
Succeeded by Bob Miller |
| Preceded by Howard Cannon |
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Nevada (Class 1) 1988, 1994 |
Succeeded by Edward M. Bernstein |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Robert List |
Attorney General of Nevada January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983 |
Succeeded by Brian McKay |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Robert List |
Governor of Nevada January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989 |
Succeeded by Bob Miller |
| Preceded by Terry Sanford |
Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995 |
Succeeded by Mitch McConnell |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by Chic Hecht |
U.S. senator (Class 1) from Nevada January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001 Served alongside: Harry Reid |
Succeeded by John Ensign |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
Authority control  |
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