John Sperling, Founder of U. of Phoenix, Dies at 93

John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix, died on Friday at the age of 93. The announcement was made by the Apollo Education Group, which grew out of the company Sperling founded in 1973.

The obituary noted Sperling's pride in taking on establishment higher education. “I was totally unprepared for the level of resistance and the passion of that resistance by professors and university administrators," he wrote in his autobiography, Against All Odds. Sperling retired as chair of the company's board in 2012.