As he shifted from retirement to “what’s next,” John Steinbeck didn’t skip a beat. Just one week after nearly 35 years at the Clark County Fire Department, Steinbeck became a state senator, representing District 18 in Nevada.
Steinbeck, an alum of the Executive Leaders Program (Cohort 1802), steadily advanced through the ranks of the fire department after joining at just 19 years old. He served as an engineer, captain, battalion chief, deputy chief, and emergency manager. He was also a member of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force One, where he deployed to major disasters, including the World Trade Center after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
As Deputy Fire Chief and Emergency Manager, Steinbeck was in command at the emergency operations center for the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas mass shooting that claimed 58 lives and injured hundreds. He helped establish the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center and guided this multi-year recovery effort. This experience sharpened his ability to make rapid, high-stakes decisions and coordinate across agencies—skills that undoubtedly made him more proficient in crisis response.
“Unfortunately, I became an expert in this,” Steinbeck says. “I never wanted to be, but following the shooting, that was my life for the next five years, and even to today.”
In February 2020, he became fire chief, a week before Nevada’s first COVID-19 case, and immediately stepped into pandemic response mode. That experience, along with his CHDS Executive Leaders Program (ELP1802) education, shaped his approach to leadership.
“The program was fantastic—not just the instructors, but the philosophy of maximizing critical thinking and challenging what you already know.”
– Nevada State Senator John Steinbeck, ELP (Cohort 1802)
“The program was fantastic—not just the instructors, but the philosophy of maximizing critical thinking and challenging what you already know,” he recalls. “And the networking was invaluable. I had peers I could reach out to as I was preparing for my fire chief interviews.”
That blend of real-world experience and academic excellence made Steinbeck stand out as both a leader and a colleague.
“I’ve had the opportunity to know and work with Senator Steinbeck for a decade, and I have seen him lead through some of Nevada’s most challenging and consequential emergencies,” says CHDS Instructor Caleb Cage. “I know of no one better to speak on crisis leadership, disaster resilience, and the political challenges of emergencies than John.”
Steinbeck has also returned to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security as an instructor for the Master’s program, teaching Mass Casualty Incident Response and Recovery.
“That has been a highlight for me. I love it,” he says.
As he applied these lessons in public office, Steinbeck made an immediate impact on the Senate floor. In his first session, he passed eight bills, most focused on public safety, including measures on drunk driving penalties, firefighter health screenings, and 911 dispatch funding. His work in the Senate centers on four key priorities: public safety, education, economic diversification, and healthcare access.
“At the end of the day, it feels good to solve problems.”
