E. Parry Thomas was originally from Ogden, Utah. He came to Las Vegas in 1954, sent there to manage the Bank of Las Vegas by his banker boss, who held a stake in it. Thomas quickly recognized the endless opportunities for a lone bank willing to loan capital to the casino business, at a time when no other banks would do so. He approved the first of them, $750,000 to Milton Prell to expand the Sahara, in 1955. And for the next 20 years, Parry Thomas was the man to see about borrowing money for the casino industry. For example, Thomas was instrumental in Steve Wynn’s success, early on, by helping him gain control of the Golden Nugget. The Bank of Las Vegas merged with Valley Bank of Reno and took its name (it's now Bank of America); Thomas built the 17-story Valley Bank in downtown in 1975.
Jerome "Jerry" Mack moved to Las Vegas in 1929 at the age of nine. He graduated from Las Vegas High in 1938. In 1954, he and his father Nate founded the Bank of Las Vegas. When Parry Thomas showed up that same year, he joined the management team. Jerry Mack also managed the Riviera, the Dunes, and the Four Queens. He was also a co-founder of Nevada Southern College; he and Thomas helped set up the original land foundation, which grew to 400 acres, for the campus; he was also a continuous benefactor of the college, which later became the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Thomas and Mack also donated $500,000 for the initial architectural renderings of the Thomas & Mack Center. To honor the partners for financing that and many other UNLV projects, the Thomas & Mack Center was named for them.
