[1] He received his degree in Engineering Physics with honors in 1962 from Cornell University, where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society and elected to Tau Beta Pi.

He was in the Cornell freshman eight that won the 1958 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship under coach Carl F. Ullrich.

During his next three years on the varsity squad under the Cornell coach R. H. (Stork) Sanford, Spero was a member of two more championship crews.

[2] His first international competition came at the World 1961 Maccabiah Games, when he won a gold medal in the coxed four, along with coxswain and coach Allen Rosenberg.

Spero defeated the reigning Olympic champion Vyacheslav Ivanov of the U.S.S.R in the preliminary heats, advancing to the finals and finishing sixth.

[13] Spero conducted post-doctoral research in physics at the University of Maryland, which resulted in the development of high intensity microwave lamps.