Robert Mendenhall

Robert Mendenhall is the founder and president of Las Vegas Paving Corporation. He invented and patented the Asphalt Recycling Process, as well as numerous other inventions that benefit the construction industry, and help conserve our natural resources. Bob was inducted into the Nevada Inventors Hall of Fame in 1984. He gave an unrestricted gift of $1 million to the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, and has been a contributor and a judge for the college’s Senior Design Competition. He was recognized at the May 2006 Commencement with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree.  

Born in Canada, Bob moved to Springville, Utah, with his family when he was eight years old. Consistently fascinated by all things mechanical, he spent much of his spare time taking machines and toys apart to see how they worked. His grandfather, G.W. Mendenhall, owned a construction company, and Bob began working as a water boy for the family business when he was very young.

In June 1948, he married Paula Clements and the couple moved to Las Vegas in 1954. In 1958, he established Las Vegas Paving Corp. and became a licensed general contractor and a general building contractor in Arizona and Nevada. Over the years, he has encouraged the asphalt paving industry to recognize the importance of conservation of natural resources through recycling.