CANTON -- Hundreds are expected to graduate from St. Lawrence University’s during commencement at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 17, where thousands of students, faculty, staff and guests will hear remarks from honorary degree recipients.

The ceremony will take place on Creasy Commencement Common, or in Appleton Arena in the event of inclement weather.

Speakers will include Peter Hatch, a garden historian and consultant to various historic landscapes across the country; John Angelo, a pioneer in the hedge fund industry, and Judy Hart Angelo, a songwriter, who have both been instrumental in building and supporting St. Lawrence University’s New York City semester; and Jane Clark, chair of the board of directors for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and president of The Clark Foundation.

John M. Angelo is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Angelo, Gordon and Co. He manages the firm’s growth and is focused on its strategic direction, and he is well known as a pioneer in the hedge fund industry. Angelo, Gordon is one of the oldest and most successful alternative investment firms in the world. The firm presently manages $30 billion dollars primarily in credit, private equity, and real estate in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm’s goal has always been quality returns with low volatility and without the use of leverage.

Prior to Angelo, Gordon, John Angelo was associated with L.F. Rothschild for 18 years. At Rothschild he managed the firm’s proprietary capital in world markets with particular emphasis on derivatives. He has served on the board of Ronald McDonald House and currently is on the board of directors of Sotheby’s.

Born and raised in New York City, he has been married for 47 years to the songwriter Judy Hart Angelo. The Angelos have three grown children.

Judy Hart Angelo is a songwriter. Her best-known work is the opening theme song, co-written with Gary Portnoy, to the Emmy-winning television show Cheers, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” They also co-wrote the themes to Mr. Belvedere, Punky Brewster and songs for the TV show Fame. The opening song of the 1992 Summer Barcelona Olympic Games, “How Fast, How Far,” was recorded and sung by Anita Baker and co-written by Anita Baker, Barry Eastmond and Judy Hart Angelo.

Angelo was a director of The Manhattan Theater Club for 10 years and currently serves on the board of The Paley Center for Media and The Central Park Conservancy in New York City. Additionally, she serves on the national board of The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She and her husband, John, have been married for 47 years and are the proud parents of Jack Angelo, screenwriter, director; Kate Angelo, screenwriter and television producer/writer; and Jesse M. Angelo, publisher of The New York Post.

Together, the Angelo’s conceived of the St. Lawrence University’s New York City Semester. In 2009, they hosted 14 students for a Wall Street workshop, and in 2010 the couple hosted a fundraising event. By 2012, St. Lawrence was able to announce that it had sufficient funds to support the program for at least 10 years. This was mainly due to a $1 million challenge gift from the Angelos and an additional $3 million raised from other alumni, parents and friends. They continue to stay in close contact with the New York City Semester program by hosting students for internships, providing entry to other businesses that sponsor internships, and giving students access to New York City programs, people, and places not normally available to them.

The Clark family has been a devoted steward of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum since Stephen C. Clark founded the museum in 1936. Since 2000, Jane Clark, his granddaughter, has served as chair of the Hall of Fame and museum’s board of directors, and has been a board member since 1992. She provides substantial museum expertise, philanthropic insight and management skill in this leadership position.

Clark is also currently the president of The Clark Foundation, one of the largest charitable foundations in the United States. Under Clark’s leadership and guidance, the foundation supports nonprofit organizations, institutions and programs in New York City and Cooperstown. The Clark Foundation has also given a number of grants to St. Lawrence University over the years, including grants the Owen D. Young Library and the Virginia and Joseph McAllaster/Gouverneur Scholarship. In 1984, St. Lawrence established The Clark Foundation Fund to support university operations and the Clark Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund to support students with financial need from the five boroughs of New York City.

As a garden historian, Peter Hatch is a widely sought-after speaker and consultant to various historic gardens and landscapes across the country. For 35 years, he was the director of gardens and grounds at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, and responsible for the maintenance, interpretation and restoration of the 2,400-acre landscape from 1977 until his retirement in 2012. Hatch also served as the project manager for the Thomas Jefferson Parkway, a $7 million federally- and privately-funded highway project to create a park along the entrance corridor to Monticello, and for Saunders Bridge, a stone-arch bridge that now serves as the entrance to Monticello.

He is the author of “The Gardens of Monticello,” “The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello,” “Thomas Jefferson and the Origins of American Horticulture,” “A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello,” and editor of “Thomas Jefferson's Flower Garden at Monticello.”