Jim Tunney
Jim Tunney has had an exemplary career in sports. A former high school coach, teacher, principal, and district superintendent, he had a 40-year career in officiating football and basketball. Thirty-one of those years, he was "the face of NFL officiating," working a record twenty-nine post-season games including three Super Bowls (two back-to-back), ten NFC/AFC Championship games, six Pro Bowls, and twenty-five Monday Night games, when MNF was THE game of the week. He officiated some of the most memorable games in NFL history, including "The Ice Bowl," "The Kick," "The Snowball Game," "The Final Fumble," "The Fog Bowl," and "The Catch." His book IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT: The "Dean of NFL Referees" Calls Pro Football as He Sees It chronicles his NFL career. Seven times, he has been nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame.
As a professional speaker, he is past president of the National Speakers Association and a charter member of its most prestigious group—The CPAE Speakers Hall of Fame. Jim holds every professional designation of the NSA, including the Philanthropist of the Year and the Cavett—the Oscar of professional speaking.
Dr. Tunney (he received a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California) continues to serve his community as a former headmaster and trustee of York School and former trustee of the Monterey Peninsula College. MPC honored him with its President's Award in 2009. Moreover, that same year he was awarded the Citizen of the Year by the Monterey Chamber of Commerce.
In 1993, he founded the Jim Tunney Youth Foundation to support local community programs that develop leadership, work skills, wellness, and self-esteem in youth. To date, the JTYF has made grants exceeding a quarter million dollars.
He has been inducted into the California Community College Football Hall of Fame and the Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame, as well as being the first administrator inducted into the Fairfax High School Hall of Fame.
As an author he has written and/or co-authored nine books: Impartial Judgment; Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul; Super Bowl Sunday; Speaking Secrets of the Masters; Lessons in Leadership; Insights into Excellence; You Can Do It!; Build a Better You; and, It's the Will, Not the Skill. He continues to write a weekly column for the Monterey County Herald, called On the Tunney Side of Sports.
