Leadership
John G. Sperling, Ph.D.
Founder, Apollo Group, Inc.
and University of Phoenix
Dr. John Sperling is the founder of Apollo Group, Inc. and executive chairman of the board of directors. He also served as the president of Apollo Group, Inc. until February 1998 and chief executive officer until August 2001.
Before he founded Apollo Group, Inc. Dr. Sperling was a professor of Humanities at San Jose State University, where he was also the director of the Right to Read Project and the director of the NSF Cooperative College-School Science Program in Economics. He has also held faculty positions at the University of Maryland, Ohio State University and Northern Illinois University.
Dr. Sperling was honored as Arizona’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1995 and in 1999 he was named one of the top eight entrepreneurs by Businessweek Magazine. In addition to his work with Apollo Group, Inc. Dr. Sperling has been a long time supporter of research in the areas of the environment, Alzheimer’s, women’s health and cancer.
Dr. Sperling was an Ehrman Scholar and earned his Ph.D. in economic history from Cambridge University. He holds a master’s in English history from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Reed College.