Matteo Coco will deliver the commencement address during winter graduation
ceremonies at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Commencement will be held at 11
a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, in UMR’s Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building, 10th
Street and Bishop Avenue in Rolla. 

Approximately 650 degrees and eight honorary professional degrees will be
awarded.         

Coco earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at UMR in 1966. He was
awarded an honorary professional degree by the university in
1984.         

A native of St. Louis, Coco began his career in 1966 as a field engineer for
McCarthy Brothers Construction Co. in St. Louis. He joined J.S. Alberici
Construction Co. in 1968 as a project engineer, became a project manager in
1970, and vice president in 1980. He retired from Alberici Constructors Inc. in
May 2006.        

Alberici Constructors is a major national contractor that performs a variety
of construction, including industrial and heavy, office, warehouse, commercial,
retail, hospital and marine construction. Among Alberici’s projects was the new
football stadium for the St. Louis
Rams.         

Coco serves as a public resource ambassador for the MSM-UMR Alumni
Association and is a past president, officer, director, and class coordinator
for the association. An active member of the four-campus UM System Alliance,
Coco served as president in 2005. He also is a member of the Academy of Civil
Engineers, a past member of the UMR Board of Trustees and the UMR Corporate
Development Council. In 1993, Coco was named an Honorary Knight of St. Patrick.
A member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, he continues to take an active role in
the UMR chapter’s activities as an
advisor.         

In St. Louis, Coco has been active in the Christian Brothers College High
School Parents’ Club, where he was president and Father of the Year in 1992. He
also is active with Boy Scouts of America and several professional
organizations, including the Mining Industry Council of Missouri, the Engineers
Club of St. Louis and Associated General Contractors of St.
Louis.         

Coco is registered as a Professional Land Surveyor and Professional Engineer
in the State of Missouri. He and his wife of 39 years, Kathy, are members of
UMR’s Order of Golden Shillelagh and have four grown sons and two
grandchildren.