Mediacom Communications founder, chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso and his wife Catherine have made one of the largest gifts to date to Columbia University’s Fu School of Engineering and Applied Science, creating a scholarship program that will support up to 20 undergraduate students at the school each year in perpetuity. 

The Rocco and Catherine Commisso Scholarship will help boost the university-wide campaign initiated by Columbia President Lee Bollinger to raise $1.4 billion in financial assistance by June 2025.

“This Commisso Scholars program comes at a time when support for students is more critical than ever,” Bollinger said in a press release. “We greatly appreciate Rocco and Catherine’s gift and the deep care for students that drives their generosity.”

Rocco Commisso has been a long-time supporter of the school and its soccer program. A 1971 graduate of the University’s industrial engineering program, Rocco Commisso was a member of Columbia’s 1967 freshman soccer squad that went undefeated and was captain of the 1970 varsity team that competed in the NCAA men’s soccer tournament. He received his MBA from Columbia in 1975. In 2006, Commisso’s son Joseph received his undergraduate engineering degree from Columbia, following in his father’s footsteps.

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Rocco Commisso has long put an emphasis on education, immigrating to the U.S. from Calabria, Italy with his family when he was 12 years old, settling in the Bronx, New York. He attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, moving on to Columbia on a full scholarship. 

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“The time I spent at Columbia was a truly life-changing experience for me,” Rocco Commisso said in a press release. “On the field, I was able to help bring a winning culture to the Lions’ soccer program. In the classroom, I was given the opportunity to earn a first-class engineering education that opened the doors to my future business career. However, without the financial support I received from Columbia, my ability to pursue an Ivy League education at one of the world’s finest universities would not have been possible. With this gift, Catherine and I hope to help students facing similar economic challenges realize their dream of graduating from Columbia. Ultimately, we want to ensure that the very best students, no matter their family’s circumstances, are able to attain a Columbia Engineering degree.” 

After earning his MBA from Columbia Business School in 1975, Commisso spent a decade on Wall Street with Chase Manhattan Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada. He worked at Cablevision Industries from 1986 to 1995 where he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer, and director and went on to found Mediacom in 1995 to acquire and reinvigorate cable systems in America’s underserved smaller communities. Today, Mediacom is the nation’s fifth largest cable provider and was recently recognized by Deloitte Private and the Wall Street Journal as a U.S. Best Managed Company for the second year in a row. The company also seeks to help close the digital divide by offering affordable broadband plans to low-income families. 

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To be eligible for the Commisso Scholarship, a student need meet one of the following requirements: to have lived or studied in Italy for at least a year; to be proficient in Italian or have grown up speaking Italian in the home; to have demonstrated leadership or involvement in the Italian community or in Italian cultural activities; to be a member of Columbia University’s men’s or women’s soccer team; or to be from the Bronx, with a preference for alumni of Mount Saint Michael Academy. 

“We truly appreciate the enormous generosity that Rocco has shown to our engineering students, and for his support over the years,” said Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering in a press release. “Making a Columbia education possible for deserving students, regardless of need, is a central value of our University and we are grateful for alumni like Rocco who continue to inspire all of us and give back in ways that will be truly transformational for our students.” 

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Commisso has generously given to the school and its soccer program over the years. More recently, he was Class Day speaker for Columbia Engineering graduates in 2021 and gave the annual Magill Lecture in 2020. He was also inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 and is the namesake of the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.  

At a ceremony on June 9, the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association will be awarding him the Samuel Johnson Medal for Distinguished Achievement in a Field Beyond Engineering and Applied Science in recognition of his entrepreneurial achievements and exceptional leadership. Past Johnson Medal recipients include former head of Xerox Ursula Burns ('82SEAS) and Nobel Prize Winner Alvin Roth (’71SEAS).

“Working with Rocco has been a true privilege,” said Columbia University provost Mary C. Boyce in a press release. “His approach to leadership, philanthropy, and business epitomizes an engineering mindset, as well as a kind and generous spirit. His support will directly impact students while also enhancing the diversity that is a strength of our university.”  ■ 

The duPont-Columbia awards were given out February 8, with 16 winners. Columbia University gives out the awards for the best journalism in the nation. 

Among TV stations, KARE Minneapolis won for prison-themed KARE11 Investigates: Cruel & Unusual, KNXV Phoenix won for police investigation Full Disclosure & Politically Charged, KNTV San Francisco for housing investigation The Moms of Magnolia Street, and KXTV Sacramento for Fire-Power-Money: Holding PG&E Accountable, a look at the utility giant.

Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, which looked at the race massacre of 1921, got a duPont-Columbia for History Channel, WNYC Studios and KOSU, and HBO’s pandemic documentary In the Same Breath got one as well. 

CBS News won a prize for Military Sexual Assault: Norah O’Donnell Investigates and Vice News for The Shockwave, about an explosion in Beirut. PBS won for the Independent Lens/Topic special Philly D.A., POV/American Documentary/LBx Africa film Softie, about an activist in Kenya, and POV/American Documentary/Third Shift Media film Through the Night, about a family-run day care operation. 

The winning podcasts were Waste Land from NPR/Planet Money/Frontline on PBS, about a marketing scam related to plastic; homeless-themed According to Need–99% Invisible, from Stitcher Media and PRX; and The Line from Apple and Jigsaw Productions, about the war crimes trial of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. 

The New York Times won for Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol and Amazon Studios/Participant Media/Storyville Films for My Name is Pauli Murray, about the author and activist.

Judy Woodruff and Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosted the duPont-Columbia program. 

Stations WVUE New Orleans, WBBM Chicago and KUSA Denver were finalists for duPont Columbia awards. ■

The Columbia University Journalism School has named its 2018 Alfred I. duPont - Columbia University Awards recipients, with Netflix new to the winners circle.

Five of the awards, given for journalistic excellence, went to local TV stations, including two for Tegna-owned stations; three to commercial broadcast networks; two to PBS; and two to cable networks. Streaming service Netflix's award was for 13TH, the critically acclaimed documentary about the targeting of African Americans by the legal system as criminals, directed by Ava DuVernay.

The annual juried awards recognize excellence in broadcast, digital and documentary journalism. About a dozen news stories and films are honored each year for the strength of their reporting, storytelling and impact in the public interest.

The cable networks honored were HBO, for Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, and National Geographic Networks. CBS News's two included one for 60 Minutes in its 50th year, and ABC received one for a documentary on the Los Angeles riots. PBS's awards were for Frontline and World Channel.

Five local TV stations were honored for investigative reporting: ABC15 Arizona (Phoenix) for exposing abuse of the Americans with Disabilities Act; KARE 11 (Minneapolis) for three separate hard-hitting investigative stories; KHOU-TV (Houston) for revealing Houston’s wasteful police body camera program; KNTV (San Jose, Calif.) for an investigative series that chronicled the misuse of school police officers to discipline students; and WITI-TV (Milwaukee) for bravely challenging public opinion about laws intended to safeguard children that paradoxically may put them at greater risk.

“Like many of our Tegna stations, KARE and KHOU have produced incredibly meaningful work that impacts the lives of many," said Tegna president David Lougee. "Their projects are strong examples of the positive impact of local journalism on communities and the importance of storytelling for the public interest. We are committed to continuing to invest in our local stations to ensure they have the journalistic freedom to pursue investigations that make communities stronger without bias or agenda.”

Stacy Owen, president and general manager of KNTV, said: “We are honored to be recognized with this very important award and proud that our investigative unit helped to inspire security changes at schools in our own backyard and all across the country. The sweeping changes that resulted from our investigation reinforces our station’s mission of shining a light on questionable practices and holding the powerful accountable to make the Bay Area a better place to live for all.”

The awards will be given out Jan. 16, hosted by CBS This Morning's Gayle King and CNN's Jake Tapper.

Click here for a list of all the winners and their stories.

Mediacom Communications chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso was inducted into Columbia University’s Athletics Hall of Fame Thursday night, for his lifetime commitment to Columbia Althletics, specifically its soccer program.

Commisso, a Columbia graduate, was honored at a black-tie gala Thursday night at the Low Library on the University’s Morningside Campus.

The Hall of Fame was founded to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of intercollegiate athletics and who have helped bring recognition, distinction and excellence to Columbia University. With his induction, Commisso joins a legendary group of Columbia alumni including Lou Gehrig,Sid Luckman, Roone Arledge, Robert Kraft, Len Renery and Amr Aly. 

On Saturday (Oct. 22), Commisso will be recognized by the University during the official dedication of the newly renovated soccer field at the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium named in his honor. Scheduled in conjunction with the Columbia’s 2016 Homecoming festivities, the ceremony will take place at 6:30pm between the women’s and men’s soccer matches against Dartmouth College. During the program, Commisso will be joined by Columbia Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Peter Pilling, as well as a large contingent of current soccer players, coaches, alumni, family and friends.  

Despite not playing soccer in high school, Commisso earned a full four-year undergraduate scholarship to attend Columbia and was awarded three soccer letters. He started every game during his four-year career from 1967-70 (except for one due to injury) and earned a reputation as the “toughest” player in the Ivy League. A three-year All-Ivy League honoree both as a defensive and offensive player, Commisso guided the Lions to a four-year winning record. He served as Co-Captain of the 1970 team, the first-ever Columbia squad to advance to the NCAA Tournament, scoring 9 goals in 8 games as a center-forward, including Columbia’s first two NCAA Tournament goals in school history. He was also a member of a freshman squad that finished with an undefeated record and was invited to try-out for the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team.

Commisso has supported the University’s soccer program for 49 years, co-founding the Friends of Columbia Soccer in the mid-1970s and serving as its chairman from 1978-86, during which time Columbia won 8 straight Ivy Championships and became the only Ivy League school ever to compete in the NCAA Championship Final Game. In 2013, Columbia recognized his long-standing contributions to the university by naming its soccer venue at the school’s Baker Athletics Complex as the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.

Commisso earned both a BS degree in Industrial Engineering in 1971 and a MBA degree from the Graduate Business School in 1975. At the Business School, he was elected president of the student body and was the recipient of the prestigious Business School Service Award.

Mediacom said Tuesday that it has promoted Joseph Commisso to Group Vice President of Corporate Finance, reporting to executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer Mark Stephan.

Commisso, whose father Rocco founded Mediacom and serves as its chairman and CEO, will be actively involved in all aspects of the Corporate Finance Department’s activities, including debt financing, banking relationships, investor relations, external financial reporting, corporate strategy, business development, portfolio investment and liability management.

Joseph Commisso joined Mediacom in 2006 on a full-time basis and most recently served as Vice President, Financial Operations and Corporate Strategy, where he developed and managed the enterprise data warehouse and business intelligence systems.  Since the Company’s founding in 1995, he has played an integral part in Mediacom’s growth and has held various internships in financial operations, field management, programming, acquisition due diligence and information technology.

A graduate of Columbia University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, Commisso also completed the Cable Executive Management program sponsored by the CTAM Educational Foundation at Harvard Business School.  He serves on the board of directors of both the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation and the alumni advisory group, Friends of Columbia Soccer.