Speakers chosen for graduation ceremonies

Business leader Glenn Novotny of Danville, Calif., has been selected to speak at the undergraduate commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. in Armstrong Gym. Dr. Joel Hyer, CSC associate professor of history, will deliver the keynote address at the ceremony for graduate students at 8 a.m. in Memorial Hall.

Novotny, a 1969 graduate who was a CSC Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 2007, is a venture partner at Telegraph Hill Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm investing in life science, medical device and healthcare companies. Prior to joining Telegraph Hill, Novotny worked at Central Garden & Pet for 17 years, including president and chief operating officer from 1990 to 2003 and chief executive officer from 2003 through 2007.

Novotny was instrumental in taking Central public in 1993 and growing it from sales of $200 million to $1.7 billion through organic growth and more than 40 acquisitions to create the largest pet supply and second largest garden supply company in the United States.

The businessman also worked at Weyerhaeuser Corporation from 1970 to 1990 in a variety of operating, strategic planning, sales and executive management roles. He served as CEO of Weyerhaeuser Garden Supply from 1988 to 1990.

Novotny has served on both public and private boards of directors and has significant entrepreneurial experience. He is a director of Ditan Corp., Freedom Innovations, Nexus Biosystems, Pet Food Express, Reeb Millwork, and VeriTainer Corp., and an adviser to Trupanion Pet Health Insurance, Inc. Additionally, he is the founder and CEO of Glennhawk Vineyards.

In addition to his bachelor's degree from CSC, he graduated from the Harvard Business School Program for Executive Management Development. He is a member of the Chadron State Foundation Board of Trustees and the National Campaign Leadership Council.

In addition to teaching, Hyer serves as chairman of the Department of Communication and Social Sciences and director of the American Indian studies program.

Before moving to the Nebraska panhandle, he taught history courses at the University of California at Riverside, San Diego State University, and California State University at San Marcos.

He has several publications to his name, including a scholarly article that was nominated for an award sponsored by the Army Historical Foundation. His most well-known work, he said, is arguably his dissertation, which was later modified into a book, “We Are Not Savages: Native Americans in Southern California and the Pala Reservation, 1840-1920.” It was published by Michigan State University Press in 2001.

Hyer is a native of Los Angeles County. In 1999, he received a doctorate from the University of California at Riverside, with a major in Native American history and minors in 20th century U.S. History and colonial Latin American history.