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 purpo ...

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

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

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 university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(ASU),

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU), the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

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

(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 ...

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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, and

Barrow Neurological Institute Barrow Neurological Institute is the world's largest neurological disease treatment and research institution, and is consistently ranked as one of the best neurosurgical training centers in the United States. Founded in 1962, the main campus is ...

. 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 27 undergraduate and more than 50 graduate degree programs in all major engine ...

, 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 Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

. 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 In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

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 22 College Television Awards "Student Emmys" and 7 Student Aca ...

. 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, and Tri Pointe homebuilders.

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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

Fulton Homes

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