John Tulloch ’70 (finance) is not his family’s only John Tulloch — at last count, there were six. He is, however, the only 69ÀÏʪ»ú¸£Àû graduate to name a campus building. But if it’s all the same, he’d rather not talk about his donation. When Tulloch opens up, it’s rarely about himself. Sharing his family history, on the other hand, can make him almost chatty — and rightfully so.
Building a better future
Around 150 years ago, Tulloch’s great-grandmother found herself widowed, living among sheep herds and driving horizontal rain in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. She decided to pack up her children and leave the land the Tullochs had inhabited for generations in search of a better life.
Although details of the difficult voyage have faded with time, the journey brought the Tulloch family to California. Mrs. Tulloch’s determination, work ethic, and hope ultimately shaped a future far beyond her immediate vision, forever changing the opportunities ahead for her descendants.
Building a path forward
Tulloch’s grandfather, John Francis, was orphaned in the San Francisco Bay Area around the age of 10 or 12. The woman who ran the rooming house where he was left behind decided to raise him as her own. “There wasn’t a county agency or anything,” Tulloch said. “She just did it.”
John Francis eventually gained a basic engineering education and entered the construction industry. While he was construction superintendent on an office building, the company he worked for went broke. “Somehow, he’d saved enough money and started a construction company in Oakland in 1933.”
Tulloch’s dad, John Blair, joined the family business around 1946 after completing business and engineering school. With his help, the company branched into design-build work, handling both the design and construction of commercial buildings.
Building a respect for education
Tulloch’s mother, Lucille, believed in the power of education. She earned a degree at the University of California, Berkeley in just three years, at a time when a university education wasn’t the norm for women. Since her family wouldn’t pay for a girl to attend college, she paid her own way.
Lucille instilled her passion for art in her children. She loved the Renaissance painters and was convinced her son would grow out of his love for the Impressionists. (He never did.) She expected her kids to continue their educations beyond high school and often said nobody owes you anything; you need to earn it.
After working as a construction laborer for two years and attending community college for two years, Tulloch was ready to pick a direction. He decided the University of Nevada could offer him exactly what he was looking for — a strong foundation in business and easy access to skiing. In 1967, he enrolled as a finance major, taking morning classes and spending afternoons at Mount Rose.
Tulloch attended graduate school in Los Angeles before joining his dad at Tulloch Construction. Father and son each brought different areas of expertise, and together they diversified and expanded the company through property acquisition and continued to design-build and provide general contracting. Tulloch eventually focused entirely on the property side.
Building a legacy of opportunity
Walking through the construction site of the future John Tulloch Business Building, Tulloch’s decades of expertise in construction become obvious. Gesturing to the HVAC system, he wonders aloud how many cubic feet of conditioned air it moves per minute, and he seems pleased with the answer he receives. The project manager notes that he’ll have to “study up” before his next visit.
Tulloch hopes the business building, opening this fall, and the scholarship endowment he’s established will give students opportunities, helping them build futures they can’t currently imagine — much like his great-grandmother did for him.
“You don’t have to go to Harvard or Yale to have a good life. You don’t have to go to the ‘top ten’ anything. You can have a good life if you work hard and get a good education.”
Remarkable spaces deserve remarkable names
The John Tulloch Business Building will anchor the new entrance to the University campus and provide collaborative spaces for students, faculty and industry leaders. Naming opportunities are still available. To shape the future of business education, contact Zack Madonick ’11, Executive Director of Development, madonick@unr.edu or (775) 682- 6041 or Erica Pinjuv ’10, Director of Development, epinjuv@unr.edu or (775) 682-7036.