L. L. Nunn

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Lucien Lucius Nunn (b. 16 March 1853 Medina, Ohio – d. 2 April 1925 Los Angeles, California) was an American entrepreneur and educator who founded Telluride Association and Deep Springs College. He received his higher education at Oberlin College and in 1880 moved to Telluride, Colorado where he started a law practice and dealt in real estate. By 1890 he had become involved in gold mining, journalism, and banking within the small community. His bank, the First National Bank of Telluride, was the only bank in the county at the time.

In order to help his mining operations prosper, Nunn financed the world’s first commercial A/C power plant. The plant, built by George Westinghouse, became part of the Nunn’s Telluride Power Company which would later become part of Utah Power and Light. Nunn continued investing in the power industry and helped design the Ontario Power Plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario. To staff the power plants Nunn created a work study program called the Telluride Institute, headquartered in Olmstead. Upon completion of the course the graduates were sent on to gain further education through the issuance of scholarships. Many of these students went on to study at Cornell University, where they resided at Telluride House, managed by Telluride Association, which Nunn founded.

Nunn was forced to sell his portion of Telluride Power in 1912 due to disagreements with other stockholders, which led to the closure of the Olmstead educational site and the suspension of the Telluride Institute program.

Nunn attempted to restart similar educational programs a number of times, but with little success. Finally Nunn founded Deep Springs College in 1917, a two-year college built on the "Swinging T Ranch" in Deep Springs Valley, California. The college is similar in style to the Telluride Institute, in that students must work while completing their academic requirements.

Nunn died in 1925 as a result of tuberculosis which he contracted a decade earlier. He was laid to rest on 7 April 1925 in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

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