Christina M. Hixson

Christina M. Hixson graduated from high school in Clarinda, Iowa.  She borrowed money from her uncle and moved to Omaha, Neb. to attend business school.  After seven months, she went to work for Mr. Ernst F. Lied, the owner of Lied Buick, a car dealership in Omaha.  She worked as a switchboard operator and took dictation since his secretary could not. 

After the war, Miss Hixson became his secretary and also took on the accounting duties.  Miss Hixson joined Mr. Lied in Las Vegas in 1960 and became his assistant.  She attended all business meetings with him as he relied on her instinctive judgment of people to guide him in his transactions.

After Mr. Lied’s death in 1980, Miss Hixson became the sole trustee of the Lied Foundation Trust.  As such, she has turned the Lied Foundation Trust into one of the largest foundations in the State of Nevada.  Miss Hixson has tried to keep in mind the types of grant that Mr. Lied would want her to make.  She has made contributions to projects in California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah and Washington. 

Miss Hixson has a special fondness for young people who, like her, come from a challenging family background and are willing to work hard. As Trustee of the Lied Foundation Trust, she has demonstrated a keen insight in selecting for funding those projects that could only become a reality with a pacesetting gift that would, in turn, elevate the sights of other donors.

Under Miss Hixson’s direction, vision and generosity, the Ernst F. Lied Golf Scholarship Program was established at UNLV.  Mr. Lied had a tremendous interest in golf, and in his memory this contribution will perpetuate the game of golf at UNLV through the scholarships it provides to student-athletes.  It enables the golf program to attract the finest student-athletes each year and compete at the highest national level.

She has also contributed funds to UNLV for the Lied Athletic Complex, Lied Library, Science Labs, UNLV and CSN Baseball programs and Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies.