Gary Hoover — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Serves as Executive Director at the American Business History Center since 2019.
Founded Bookstop in 1982, which grew to become the United States's fourth-largest bookstore chain with 22 stores and was sold to Barnes & Noble for $41.5 million in 1989.
Co-founded The Reference Press in 1990, which became Hoover's business information company and was purchased by Dun & Bradstreet for $117 million in 2003.
Serves as the entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information.
Earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago, where four of his teachers, including Milton Friedman, later won Nobel Prizes.

Biography

Gary Hoover is an American businessperson and entrepreneur. He was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and grew up in Anderson, Indiana, graduating from Madison Heights High School in 1969. He attended the University of Chicago, earning a bachelor's degree in economics. Four of his teachers at the university, including Milton Friedman, later won Nobel Prizes.

After graduating, Hoover spent two years as a security analyst at Citibank, covering the retailing industry.