Call for Nominations for Distinguished JCU Alumni Award 2020
Who is your John Cabot University alumni hero? It’s once again time for members of the JCU community to send in their nominations for the Distinguished JCU Alumni Award!
This award is conferred upon an alumnus/a who has demonstrated a steady growth of excellence in their career and leadership within their respective field. In addition to making notable contributions to their chosen profession, award recipients exemplify John Cabot University’s values and mission of fostering intellectual tolerance, freedom, and integrity while promoting cross-cultural dialogue.
For this year’s award, we particularly encourage nominations for alumni who have gone above and beyond in response to global events.
Please send in your nomination for the Distinguished JCU Alumni Award by September 1.
Past winners
The Distinguished Alumni Award was launched in 2016 and the inaugural winners were Mia Ceran (Class of ’08) and Thabet Al Qaissieh (Class of ’06). Mia is an accomplished journalist, having worked for Mediaset and LA7, two Italian national broadcasting channels. Mia currently works at RAI, the state-run Italian broadcasting TV station, where she hosts Quelli che il Calcio, a popular daytime talk show about soccer. Thabet, CEO/Co-Founder of Al Sadeem Group of Companies, was recognized for his outstanding career and accomplishments in the field of business.
Ryan Anderson (Class of ’01) was the 2017 winner, in recognition of his humanitarian commitment and academic success. In 2001, Anderson began his career at the United Nations World Food Programme as an intern, while still pursuing his BA in International Affairs at JCU. After graduating from JCU and earning a Master’s Degree in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he continued to work for the WFP and led a team of humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka during the 2004 tsunami. He was then sent to war-torn areas such as Sierra Leone, Darfur, and Rwanda, and is currently serving as Head of Programme in Kampala, Uganda.
The winner of the 2018 award was Elisabetta Fabri who graduated from JCU in 1989 with a degree in Business Administration. In 1992 she made her official debut as an entrepreneur by taking over her family’s hotel business and creating Starhotels International. Under Elisabetta’s leadership, Starhotels underwent a redevelopment of its properties through major investments in restructuring and the addition of new hotels to its portfolio throughout Italy and Europe. A supporter of “Friends of the Uffizi” and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Starhotels has distinguished itself for its strong commitment to Italy’s historic and artistic patrimony.
In 2019, the winner of the Distinguished Alumni Award was Antonio Santarelli, a Class of ‘81 Business Administration graduate. Antonio received the Distinguished Alumni Award for his work in his family’s Wine Estate Casale del Giglio, and for founding The Vineyard of Latium, an association that aims to restore the prestige of the Lazio region’s high-quality wines and to promote cultural heritage and local cuisine.