JCU Announces 2025 Commencement Guests Alberto Angela and John Meditz
John Cabot University is pleased to announce that Alberto Angela, a renowned paleontologist, naturalist, scientific communicator, and author, will be the 2025 Commencement speaker. The University will also welcome John Meditz, a Trustee of John Cabot University and Senior Portfolio Manager and co-founder of Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC.
This year’s Commencement ceremony will take place on May 19 at Villa Aurelia on the Janiculum Hill, overlooking the city of Rome. 252 students from 43 different countries are expected to graduate.
Alberto Angela – Commencement Speaker 2025
After his undergraduate degree at Sapienza University of Rome, Alberto Angela furthered his studies in the U.S. at Harvard, Columbia, and UCLA, and carried out over a decade of excavation and research, participating in numerous international paleoanthropological expeditions. Recognized as one of Italy’s foremost experts in scientific and historical outreach, Angela is the creator and host of numerous acclaimed television programs broadcast on RAI TV.
As a freelance journalist, he has collaborated with leading newspapers and magazines and authored best-selling books on history, art, and science, many of which have been translated into multiple languages. His book Cleopatra. La regina che sfidò Roma e conquistò l’eternità (“Cleopatra: The Queen Who Defied Rome and Conquered Eternity”), originally published in Italy in 2018, has since been released by HarperCollins in countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, and Poland. His most recent works include the trilogy on Roman Emperor Nero: L’ultimo giorno di Roma (“The Last Day of Rome,” 2020), Inferno su Roma (“Hell Over Rome,” 2021), and Nerone, la rinascita di Roma e il tramonto di un imperatore (“Nero: The Rebirth of Rome and the Decline of an Emperor,” 2022).
John Cabot University will award Angela the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
John Meditz – Commencement Honoree 2025
A lifelong resident of Weehawken, N.J., John Meditz has been an active member of the community for many decades. He has been the Chair of the Weehawken Planning Board for 43 years, Treasurer of the Weehawken Library for 30 years, a former Chair of the Palisades Medical Center Board, founding Chair of the PMC Foundation, for which he just completed 25 years, member of the Board of the Hackensack Meridian Healthcare Network, member of the Hackensack UMH Foundation, former Board member of Saint Augustine Grammar School, former and current Board member for 28 years and former Board Chair of Xavier High School, a Trustee of Fairfield University for 28 years and an 11-year Trustee of John Cabot University.
Meditz graduated from Fairfield University with a BA in Economics and obtained an MBA from Rutgers University Graduate School of Business. He briefly taught Economics at William Paterson University, began working in the investment field at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, then as a V.P. and Senior Investment Officer with Bankers Trust Company (17 years) and co-founded Horizon Asset Management 31 years ago. Now Horizon Kinetics Holding Company, which manages approximately $8 billion and is known for its ‘value’ orientation and its non-traditional research publications.
For both his very long Board tenure and generosity to his alma mater, Fairfield University awarded Meditz an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree in 2015 and more recently the President’s medal for similar reasons by Xavier High School.
During the Commencement ceremony, Meditz will also be awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
