Acosta, Garaventa to receive honorary doctorates at June commencements
L-R: Jack Acosta and Sil Garaventa Jr.
- April 21, 2010
Two East Bay businessmen and philanthropists who have made major contributions in their communities and to higher education will be among those to receive honorary doctorate degrees during commencement ceremonies for California State University, East Bay in mid-June.
Jack Acosta, a longtime resident of Danville and an alumnus of Cal State East Bay, will be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters at ceremonies for the university’s College of Business and Economics at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 12.
Sil Garaventa Jr., chief executive officer of Garaventa Enterprises in Concord, will be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. It has not yet been determined whether the honoree will be recognized at ceremonies for Cal State East Bay’s campus in Concord Sunday, June 13, or at a later date.
“We are honoring two outstanding individuals who have been very generous with their time and resources in making major contributions to their communities and to higher education,” said Mo Qayoumi, president of California State University, East Bay.
Acosta, who earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial relations in 1975 and an MBA in management science in 1978 – both from Cal State East Bay – has served on the boards of numerous companies, most recently as chairman and director at Sum Total Systems Inc. He also has been vice president and chief financial officer at Portal Software, executive vice president and CFO at Sybase Inc., and president and chief operating officer at Tanon Manufacturing.
Acosta, with his wife Susan, made the largest individual private gift by an alumnus in the history of Cal State East Bay in 2003.
Garaventa has been involved in all phases of Garaventa Enterprises, which includes Concord Disposal Service, becoming CEO in 1998. He is on the board of directors of the Napa Recycling & Garbage Service and the Silvio and Mary Garaventa Family Foundation. Garaventa also is secretary of the California Refuse Recycling Council and founder and president of Concord Youth Sport Foundation, a venture between the city of Concord and the Concord campus of Cal State East Bay.
He graduated from the University of Portland in 1971 and has been a major supporter of that institution and an advocate for higher education. Garaventa serves on the Concord Campus Advisory Board of CSUEB.