Joan Dunn was born February 22, 1943 in the Bronx of New York City, New York. She was a teenager when she met and fell in love with Leslie Dunn. The couple married in 1962. And their loving partnership as parents and business people began. Joan attended City College of New York and received a BS/MA from UNLV in accounting. The Dunns moved to Las Vegas in 1962, when Les came to work at the Nevada Test Site. Years later, the couple would invest in real estate and were involved in major projects such as the development of the Galleria Mall.