Entrepreneur and University of Arizona alumnus Karl Eller is in critical condition at a California hospital after he fell off his bicycle Friday.
Eller is being treated at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.
"Doctors, ... as well as the family, remain optimistic for a full recovery," Gordon James, a family spokesman and longtime friend, said Monday evening.
Eller, who turns 84 Wednesday, is a Tucson High Badger, class of 1947, and divides his time between homes in the Phoenix and San Diego areas.
Before starting The Eller Company, which specializes in outdoor advertising, the Phoenix businessman was CEO of Columbia Pictures Communications and Circle K Corporation.
Eller is a 1952 graduate of the school's business program. In 1998, the UA School of Business and Public Administration was renamed the Eller College of Business and Public Administration. It was condensed, in 2004, to Eller College of Management.
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Eight years ago, Eller was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Fame, the first Arizonan to receive that honor, according to the University of Arizona.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.
