UNLV has named Dan Tuntland, founder and president of DJT Real Estate Co., as the university's 2026 Outstanding Alumnus. Tuntland earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in marketing from UNLV in 1994 and has maintained a deep commitment to the institution and Las Vegas community throughout his career.
Tuntland currently serves as vice-chair of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, with plans to assume the chair position for the 2028-29 term. He also chairs the Board of Governors for the UNLV Research Park, a 122-acre master-planned development dedicated to research, collaboration, and technology innovation that will eventually house the Intermountain Children's Hospital. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Governors for the UNLV Lied Center for Real Estate, where he has worked to strengthen connections between classroom instruction, the Southern Nevada community, and the commercial real estate industry through mentorship and funding.
Born in Reno but raised in Las Vegas, Tuntland initially attended the University of Nevada, Reno before transferring to UNLV prior to the 1989-90 academic year. He credits the excitement surrounding the Runnin' Rebels basketball team's national championship run as a catalyst for his decision to move south. "That 1989-90 year on campus — and really, throughout the entire community — was magic, with everything centered around and everyone focused on the Runnin' Rebels basketball team," Tuntland said in a university interview. "I went to every game at the Thomas & Mack Center."
After earning his degree, Tuntland obtained his real estate license and worked for Tiberti-Blood, a local real estate and development firm, before founding DJT Real Estate Co. in 2007. His company specializes in land acquisition and investment, brokerage, and development. Tuntland credited an early childhood memory with sparking his interest in real estate: when he was 10 or 11 years old, his father, a banker, showed him buildings owned by a family friend and explained how the businesses occupying them paid the owner's monthly expenses.
Tuntland attributes much of his approach to community involvement to lessons learned at UNLV. "Even back in 1990, I recognized that UNLV was the hub of the entire Las Vegas community," he said. "That left a lasting impression as something I wanted to contribute to long after I left campus. So over the years, it has been important that I do my part to elevate the university. Because when UNLV flourishes, so too does everyone and everything around it."
He also credited his father with practical business wisdom. When Tuntland was arranging financing for one of his early commercial developments—the award-winning Boot Barn building on Warm Springs Road and Las Vegas Boulevard—his father advised him against signing a personal guarantee, despite having required them throughout his banking career. "I'm your father, not your banker," Tuntland recalled his father saying.
Tuntland identified UNLV professor Larry Barton's upper-level business class as instrumental to his early career success. "He told me that next to honesty, communication is the most important trait to develop if you want to be successful in business," Tuntland said. Barton's advice about clear, concise, and honest communication—both spoken and written—has remained central to Tuntland's professional philosophy.
When learning of his Outstanding Alumnus selection, Tuntland expressed gratitude and humility. "When I was notified of the award, I went and looked up the past honorees. It's an incredibly impressive list. And I am beyond grateful to now be part of it," he said.