Stuart J. Sperber, CEO of Valley Crest Tree Co. and vice president and co-founder of ValleyCrest Companies, received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the board of trustees of California State University and Cal Poly Pomona.
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The honorary degree was conferred upon Sperber during the school’s 51st annual commencement ceremony, June 9, by George Gowgani, Ph.D., a member of the California State University Board of Trustees and J. Michael Ortiz, Ph.D., president of Cal Poly Pomona. Gowgani read the citation bestowing the degree on behalf of the Board and the California State University system noting that it is the institution’s highest honor and given in recognition of a lifetime of service to the university and its community. In addition, Sperber, a member of the Class of 1956, received Cal Poly Pomona’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
In his remarks, Sperber thanked his family and friends for their “lifetime of support,” and encouraged the graduates to believe in their dreams.
Sperber said that what he enjoys the most about his career is watching Valley Crest Tree Company grow and along with it, the careers of all the people who have grown with the company—many of whom were recruited out of Cal Poly. “In addition to a vibrant generation of new employees, our team is textured with extraordinarily gifted people who have been with us more than 30, 40 years. They’ve brought in their family members, their children and their children’s children who also work with us.”
Sperber, a cancer survivor who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, noted that being involved with the college and its students helps keep him young.
Keeping him young-at-heart are Leslie, his wife of 44 years, their children, Rochelle and Tadd; Julie and Rob; Adam, and seven grandchildren.
Throughout his 50+ year career, Sperber has held numerous leadership positions with professional landscape organizations. He is past president of the
California Landscape Contractors Association, an organization that recently honored him with its Life Member award.
He belongs to the National Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, the American Nursery and Landscape Association, and the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers.
In 1999, Sperber was honored by Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Agriculture with its first Award of Distinction and is a former president of the University Education Trust.
Sperber received the 2005 Pacific Coast Nurseryman Award, a distinction bestowed by the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers on the individual who best demonstrates a lifetime of horticultural excellence and professional achievement.