John Cabot University Renames Tiber Campus to Frohring Campus
On September 29, 2022, John Cabot University renamed the Tiber Campus to the Frohring Campus, in honor of the Frohring family, whose generosity and support of the University dates back to 1972, when JCU was founded.
A five-minute walk from the main campus on Via della Lungara, the building features classrooms and offices and is the home of the Tiber Café, which was inaugurated in 2010. Before it became part of JCU, the campus on the banks of the Tiber River was an elementary school.
President Franco Pavoncello (first from right) with three generations of the Frohring family
“Today is a very important day for all of us,” said JCU President Franco Pavoncello, as he addressed members of the Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff. “On our 50th anniversary we are celebrating the half-century-long commitment and love for JCU by the Frohring Family, by naming the Tiber Campus the Frohring Campus, in recognition of the contribution of three generations of the Frohrings to the founding, resilience, and success of John Cabot University,” continued President Pavoncello.
In 1958, Paul and his wife Maxine Frohring founded the Frohring Foundation, an independent foundation supporting higher education that has long been a benefactor of John Cabot University. Paula Frohring, Paul and Maxine’s daughter, is a cherished Trustee of JCU, as is Paula’s daughter, Kristin Frohring Kushlan Finkelstein.
John Cabot International College was founded thanks mainly to the joint effort of two close friends, Paul Frohring, member of the Hiram College Board of Trustees, and William D. Cavendish, head of the Italian subsidiary of a US multinational company. The two, who both served on John Cabot’s Board of Trustees from the outset, shared a vision of creating an educational bridge between Italy and the United States. Cavendish served as Board Chair until 1976, when he became the college’s second president.
“It was Paul Frohring’s generosity that allowed JCU to move to its premises in Via della Lungara and it was his continuing support that helped the University to remain financially strong in difficult times, and to obtain the breathing room to launch into an astounding period of growth, which still lasts today,” explained President Pavoncello.
In 1999 JCU’s library was renovated and inaugurated in its new location on the lower level of Via della Lungara. On that occasion, it was re-named the Frohring Library, thanks to a generous donation from the Frohring family.
In 2015, the Frohring Foundation donated $1 million to provide scholarships to deserving students from developing, non-US and non-EU, countries. Gifts from the Frohring Foundation have helped the University’s operations over the years, made possible the construction of the Aurelian Wing of the Frohring Library, and provided funds for grants to support professors in their research and professional development.
In early 2021, the Frohring Foundation donated $950,000 to the University. This donation arrived as JCU was facing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and was an inspiring recognition of the enormous community efforts to keep the University running.
In his concluding remarks, President Pavoncello stated, “For fifty years this building has seen hundreds of elementary school children gather every day in a noisy, happy, cheerful assembly at 12 noon to eat their lunch after a day of learning. The same hope and serenity we see in our students when they sit for lunch with their friends from all over the world is a testament to the achievement of Paul Frohring’s mission of “putting a global horizon in our students’ minds.”
