Dorothy Roberts
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Dorothy Roberts Owner B.S., Business Administration, 1968 |
In one way or another, Dorothy Roberts has been connected to Cal Poly Pomona for more than half a century, through volunteering, employment, and recognition.
“I became a successful business owner because of the excellent education and work experience I received at Cal Poly Pomona,” she says. “It taught me to be an active participant in helping organizations as a volunteer.”
Fascinated by the business world, Roberts was reading Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal at age 12. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1968, followed by an MBA 10 years later. For 15 years, from 1974 to 1989, she was executive director of business operations for the university, serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet with responsibility for seven departments.
In 1989, Roberts acquired Ballard & Tighe, Publishers, a 42-year-old educational publishing company in Brea, where she served for 28 years as owner and CEO. She currently serves as an executive consultant to the company’s board of directors. During her career, she’s held positions as a training consultant with General Telephone of California and as a general partner in three California real estate limited partnerships.
Roberts is a life member of the Cal Poly Pomona Alumni Association and previously served on the board. She also was a founding member in 1983 of the Alumni Association’s Annual Auction and has held various positions with the Cal Poly Pomona Educational Trust and the Partners in Education Board for the university’s College of Education and Integrative Studies. In addition, she was a member of the CEIS Doctoral Advisory Committee.
Roberts was part of Dr. Michael Ortiz’s President’s Council and has served on the President’s Scholar Selection Committee, the Founders’ Society, the Kellogg-Voorhis Heritage Society, and the Partners in Education Board of Directors. She also supports business students in the Renaissance Scholars program.
In the community of La Habra, Roberts is a supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs, Children’s Museum, Help for Brain Injured Children, Community Resource Care Center, Old Settlers Historical Society, and Advance, which helps students apply for college and financial aid. She also supports the Bighorn Institute, which is dedicated to the preservation of the bighorn sheep.
Through the years, Roberts has been lauded time and again for her philanthropic endeavors and professional success. Among these, she received the Cal Poly Pomona’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, the Distinguished Alumna from the College of Business Administration in 2004 and the Alumni Association Recognition Award for outstanding leadership in 1989.
She and her husband of 50 years, Kent, live in La Habra Heights.