California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
David P. Singelyn is cofounder, chief executive officer and trustee of American Homes 4 Rent, a leader in the single-family home rental industry. He has built his decades-long business career on the foundation of the bachelor’s degrees in accounting and computer information systems he earned at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1984. He credits his time at Cal Poly Pomona with providing him the academic knowledge, hands-on learning opportunities and professional confidence to succeed in the business world.
After graduation, Mr. Singelyn worked as an accountant and computer auditor at Arthur Young & Co. and later served as controller for Winchell’s Donut House. He has held key positions at private and publicly traded real estate companies, serving as treasurer of Public Storage; chief financial officer, chair, president and board director of Public Storage Canada; and chief executive officer of American Commercial Equities.
As he has soared to great heights in the business world, Mr. Singelyn has maintained his connection to Cal Poly Pomona. He and his wife, Ruth, who graduated from Pomona in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in computer information, provided a philanthropic investment of $12.5 million in 2022 to expand the university’s graduate business program, which is now named the Singelyn Graduate School of Business in the College of Business Administration. A previous donation from the couple in 2017 established the Singelyn Center for Innovative Analytics, a visual analytics lab that supports graduate business programs.
Mr. Singelyn is also generous with his time, serving as the board vice chair of the Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation, a board member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and a member of the Singelyn Center for Innovative Analytics Advisory Board.
In recognition of his notable business acumen and his numerous contributions to Cal Poly Pomona, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona are proud to confer upon David P. Singelyn the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.