Philanthropists, arts patrons and businessmen with wide-ranging interests, Mike Curb and David Fleming for years have given Cal State Northridge and its educational mission priority status in their lives. During the pomp and circumstance of a jubilant 50^th anniversary commencement season, the university in May paid tribute to their service by conferring honorary degrees on each.

“Both are successful businessmen who recognize the importance of giving back to the community,” said President Jolene Koester of Curb, president of Curb Records, and Fleming, an attorney and civic leader. The president noted that Curb and Fleming stepped forward as early proponents of a performing arts center for the San Fernando Valley, contributing vital support to the future Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge.

Curb Records Chairman and former California Lt. Gov. Mike Curb received an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

Curb, who attended then San Fernando Valley State College in the early 1960s, spent hours composing songs in the campus music building. Success came early with a breakthrough song—“You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda (Go Little Honda)”—and the founding of his first record company. The young entrepreneur later launched Curb Records, which became one of the most successful labels in the United States.

Curb Records’ reputation as a hit maker is well founded: more than 250 No. 1 records have been produced there. It launched the careers of stars whose music is known to millions: LeAnn Rimes, Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd, Hank Williams Jr. and the Osmonds.

Curb’s own artistic contributions have attracted industry accolades. He has composed more than 400 songs and produced 25 gold or platinum-selling records, in the process earning Billboard magazine’s Producer of the Year Award as well as its 2001 Country Music Label of the Year. From Radio & Records magazine, his company received a nod as 2005 Overall Gold Label of the Year.

An icon in the pop music world, Curb’s interest in other genres extends to jazz and gospel music. He has served as president of the historic Verve Records label, signing superstar Tony Bennett and working with jazz legends such as Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz, Chet Baker and Wes Montgomery.

Public service beckoned in the 1970s. Elected California’s lieutenant governor in 1978, he accepted the chairmanship of the Republican National Finance Committee in 1983.

Curb’s star was enshrined on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, a year after he was awarded CSUN’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Cal State Northridge named its College of Arts, Media, and Communication for Curb in 2006. That same year, in making a $10 million gift to the university, the producer/composer/philanthropist noted his special interest in CSUN’s Music Industry Studies and other music education programs. Half of the donation is an endowment for the arts college and the other half supports the Valley Performing Arts Center, whose grand opening is set for 2011.

Attorney and civic leader David Fleming was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree by the College of Business and Economics.

Known for the breadth of his experience in arenas both civic and cultural, the Latham and Watkins attorney has devoted himself to the cause of education in general and to the mission of Cal State Northridge in particular.

Fleming’s involvement has made a difference on so many important CSUN projects that in 2007, the university selected him for its prized Dorothea “Granny” Heitz Award for Outstanding Volunteer Leadership.

One example: Fleming led a highly successful building campaign for CSUN’s education college in the 1990s. A gender equity lecture series, an after-school outreach program, an elementary school literacy project, labs and equipment, scholarship and faculty endowments all were generated or supported by the campaign. Without Fleming, said campaign colleagues, the “goal would not have been reached.”

During his nearly 50-year legal career, Fleming has represented clients in a broad range of complex practice areas including banking, securities, real estate and estate planning.

Fleming chairs The Valley Economic Alliance and has served as board chair of both the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and Valley Presbyterian Hospital. A past chair of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, he leads the board of Project Grad, whose mission is to ensure a quality public school education for at-risk children, leading them to graduation from high school and success beyond.

Recently appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to the board of the Metropolitan Water District, Fleming heads the Los Angeles County Business Federation and co-chairs the Southern California Leadership Council, composed of members such as former California governors Gray Davis, Pete Wilson, Jerry Brown and George Deukmejian.

Reflecting his deep commitment to the arts and arts education, Fleming is vice chair of the campaign to build the Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge. He and his wife, Jean, have committed major financial support toward construction of the facility. “This will be a milestone for our area,” Fleming told the Los Angeles Times. “It extends the great social asset of enjoyment of the arts to people who cannot usually partake of this due to travel time and distance.”

— Julia Venkateswaran

---