Rick Tullis

Rick Tullis graduated from Baylor in the spring of 1993 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. The total class of graduates from all disciplines of engineering that day was 11. His first job was with The Trane Company at their manufacturing plant outside of Waco. This is what set his career course in the HVAC industry. Rick and Elizabeth (Baylor ’93) married in 1994 and began to knit themselves into the Waco community through church, work, and family. When relocation became the next move in climbing the corporate ladder, they felt a “calling” to stay in Waco. This meant leaving Trane and going to work for a local HVAC contracting and engineering firm in 2001. 

A major career crossroads happened in 2005 when Rick and three partners started Capstone Mechanical. Additionally, he and Elizabeth welcomed their third of eventually four sons a month later. Rick served as president of Capstone for the next 18 years as it grew from a start-up venture to a regional operation with 200+ team members. Baylor was Capstone’s biggest customer and a source of talent throughout those years. Leading at Capstone also provided Rick the opportunity to serve in the community in a variety of ways including; Trustee at Midway ISD, Chair of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, President of the Waco Business League, Chair of the Greater Waco Sports Commission, co-host of the Waco History Podcast, and member of the Baylor ECS Board of Advocates, to name a few.

After the partners sold Capstone in 2021, Rick left Capstone in 2023 to prepare for the next phase of his career in full-time public service. In January of 2027 he will be installed as the next County Judge of McLennan County. In large Texas counties, the county judge is the chief administrator for the county government and not a courtroom judge. They are involved with such things as economic development, emergency management, budgeting and taxation, water resources planning, transportation, infrastructure, public health, and public safety. Rick and Elizabeth are looking forward to this next chapter as they continue to live out their calling in service to the community they love.