Becky Harris is the Distinguished Fellow in Gaming and Leadership at the International Gaming Institute and is on the faculty at the International Center of Gaming Regulation at University Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Harris, an internationally recognized expert on gambling policy, regulation, and legislative affairs, works with regulators, operators, academics, and other stakeholders on a host of gambling, and leadership challenges and projects. In addition to teaching Gaming Law and Policy and AML for Gaming Lawyers at the William S. Boyd School of Law (Boyd), Harris regularly educates gambling regulators ensuring they have the information, knowledge, and tools necessary to assess and improve gambling policy and regulation in their respective jurisdictions. Actively involved in gambling issues around the world, Harris is highly sought-after as a collaborator, advisor, and speaker. Harris is frequently called upon nationally to discuss policy and regulatory issues relating to legal sports wagering. Ms. Harris is designated as an AML Specialist by ACAMS.
Harris served as the Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board from 2018-2019 and was the first woman to hold the position. As Chief Regulator, responsible for comprehensively regulating the multi-billion dollar gambling industry in the State of Nevada, she served as a global ambassador to other gambling regulators and led the world’s most highly regarded gambling regulatory body through several high profile matters including the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the emergence of sports betting across the United States, various Wire Act issues, sexual harassment matters and the #MeToo Movement, and gaming implications from the legalization of recreational cannabis.
Harris is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts and a J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark Law School. She later obtained a master’s degree in Political Science from UNLV and was an inaugural class member of the Gaming Law and Regulation L.LM. at Boyd.
