Shelley Berkley

Recently, Shelley Berkley finished her tenure as the Senior Vice President of the Touro University system. Before this, she held the positions of CEO and Senior Provost at Touro University Western Division for a period of eight-and-a-half years.

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Prior to joining Touro, Shelley served the State of Nevada in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2013. She was the first woman to serve the district and held the position for seven terms.

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During her 14 years in Congress, Shelley served on the Transportation Committee, Small Business Committee, Veterans Affairs Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, and the powerful Ways and Means Committee (healthcare subcommittee).

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Among Shelley's proudest accomplishments during her time in Congress was building the new Veterans Administration medical complex in Southern Nevada to provide quality healthcare to the veterans in our community. She was a vocal supporter of providing more funding for graduate medical education (residencies), and a vocal advocate of reforming our nation's healthcare system.

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Shelley was also known as one of the strongest and most outspoken supporters of Israel in Congress. She left her mark on every resolution, legislation, committee markup, and floor debate affecting Israel and the Middle East.

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Shelley began her career in public service in 1983 as an assemblywoman in the Nevada State Legislature. Shelley worked to strengthen consumer protection laws and to crack down on drunk driving. She created the Senior Law Project and wrote the Lemon Law which protects new car owners from defective vehicles. Both programs continue to this day.

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Shelley was appointed and twice elected to the Nevada State Board of Regents, which governs and sets policy for the Nevada State System of Higher Education, serving from 1990 to 1998. She served as Vice Chairperson and fought to keep tuition costs low and to create a law school at UNLV.

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Prior to serving in Congress, Shelley was a practicing attorney. She was an attorney for the Nevada State Commerce Department, in-house counsel for Southwest Gas Corporation, and Vice President for Government and Legal Affairs for the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

Shelley is married to Dr. Larry Lehrner, a kidney specialist. Shelley is the proud mother of two sons Max, an attorney and Sam Berkley, territory manager of resort spirits for Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada, and two stepchildren David, a specialist in information technology and Stephanie Lehrner, DO, a primary care physician.

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Shelley was raised in Las Vegas. She attended John C. Fremont JHS, Valley High School. She was the first person in her family to go to college. She graduated from UNLV in 1973 where she was student body president.