Founder and Chairman of the Board, University of Phoenix
Chairman of the Board, The Apollo Group, Inc.
Nominated By: David G. Moore
According to President Allen Calvin of Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, “The characteristic that set John apart from other academicians was his passion for creating a better system to deliver high quality education to working adults. Not believing that enough was being done to support the “nontraditional student,” especially working adults, Dr. Sperling made viable, credible on line education a reality when he founded the University of Phoenix. Today, his company is the largest private university in the United States serving over 150,000 students and has a combined market value of over $15 billion dollars. Certainly, the printing press and on line education can be viewed in parallel terms of bringing affordable education to the common man.”
