Ira Amond Fulton (born November 12, 1931) is an Arizona philanthropist,

land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...

, businessman, and founder of Fulton Homes. In 2006,

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

listed Fulton 36th on its list of "The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists.". The

Arizona Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...

has also recognized his generosity. According to BusinessWeek, Fulton and his wife, Mary Lou, had given away about $265 million, approximately 60% of their net worth as of 2005. Major recipients include

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(ASU),

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU), the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...

(UVU), the

Huntsman Cancer Institute Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) is an NCI-designated cancer research facility and hospital located on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center i ...

, and

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. A major donation project by Fulton for UVU happened in 2007, and in 2014 he pledged to donate $1 million towards BYU's new engineering building. In 2004 and 2005, the Fultons had donated $20 million to BYU to create 4 chairs named for Mary Lou Fulton. By October 2015, they had given $50 million to BYU, including $20 million donated in October 1999 to help the Lighting the Way Campaign reach a $400 million goal. Several buildings or facilities at higher education institutions are named in honor of the Fultons. These include ASU's

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (often abbreviated to the Fulton Schools) is the engineering college of Arizona State University. The Fulton Schools offers 25 undergraduate and 48 Graduate school, graduate degree programs in all major ...

, BYU's Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, ASU's Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, BYU's (Mary Lou) Fulton Supercomputing Lab, and UVU's Ira A. Fulton and Mary Lou Fulton Library. Fulton was born in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

. As a student at ASU, Fulton played football. Before becoming a real estate developer, Fulton owned a wide variety of businesses, including factories, insurance companies, auto parts stores, and tire stores. One of the most successful businesses was a men's clothing chain he owned from 1976 to 1995. Fulton was one of Arizona's

presidential electors The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in the 2004 election. At BYU, Fulton has been a primary force behind formation of the

BYU Center for Animation BYU Center for Animation is an American animation school at Brigham Young University (BYU). The program is a leading university animation program in the United States and has collected 11 student Emmys. Students enter the program through one of ...

.''Philanthropy ROundtable'' article on Fulton and his work to benefit the BYU Center for Animation
/ref> Fulton's wife, Mary Lou, died in October 2015.

Fulton Homes

Fulton Homes is a Tempe, Arizona-based homebuilder, founded by Fulton. The current CEO is Fulton's son, Douglas. Fulton Homes primarily builds mid-priced to high-end homes, with key competitors being Shea,

Pulte Pulte may refer to: *Joseph Hippolyt Pulte (1811–1884), German-American homeopathic physician * PulteGroup, an American home construction company *Bill Pulte William John Pulte was the founder and chairman of PulteGroup, one of the largest hom ...

, and Tri Pointe homebuilders.

References

External links

Fulton Homes
– Ira A. Fulton is the founder {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Ira A. 1931 births Latter Day Saints from Arizona Living people American philanthropists Arizona State University alumni Brigham Young University people Arizona Republicans 2004 United States presidential electors People from Tempe, Arizona