A life shaped by ASU and shared with many Long before Arizona State University secured the university moniker, Fulton was part of the Sun Devil family, attending what was then Arizona State College in 1950 on a football scholarship. It was here that Fulton met his cherished wife, Mary Lou Henson, whom he married in 1954. Throughout his time at ASU, Fulton was known as a kind, generous and gregarious man. These values and attributes would define him long after leaving the university, as he became one ASU’s most successful and generous alumni. Fulton’s steadfast belief in investing in education and his love for students supported ASU’s transformation into a premier public research university through philanthropy and development. Fulton was born on November 12, 1931, in Tempe, Arizona, a mere stone’s throw away from the corner of Mill Avenue and 7th Street, where a building bearing his name would be constructed more than 70 years later. Industrious from the start, Fulton developed a hard work ethic early in life, washing dishes in his mother’s cafe as a child and delivering papers for the Arizona Republic by middle school. Fulton’s career was an extremely diverse one. He worked in and owned various businesses throughout his life, including tire and auto parts stores and gas stations. He also worked for National Cash Register — the software, consulting and technology company today known as NCR Corporation — rising to National Salesman of the Year before starting his own companies to meet the growing computer needs of several corporations. Later, after transforming Eagleson’s Big and Tall men’s clothiers in southern California from a failing, two-store operation into a 33-store retail juggernaut, Fulton tried his hand in the career field he would become known for: home building. In 1975, he founded Fulton Homes, which has grown to become one of the Phoenix metropolitan area’s largest homebuilder companies with more than 60 residential communities in the area. The post In memoriam: Ira A. Fulton appeared first on Engineering News .