Class of 2025 Fall Commencement
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Congratulations to our fall graduates!
Explore photos and a recording of the event below.
Ceremony Recording
Commencement Keynote Speaker: Nathan S. Collier (JD 82)
Nathan S. Collier (JD 82) addressed UF Law graduates on Thursday, December 18, 2025. His opening remarks alluded to his own experience at University of Florida Levin College of Law.
“More than four decades ago, I sat where you are today, graduating from one of the finest law schools in the country, and eager and excited to start a new era of my life.”
Collier continued with three key pieces of advice that have guided his life and career since his time at UF Law:
- Live an intentional life: an ordinary person with a plan can outperform a genius without a plan.
- Step forward into the fog: even when the fog is densest, you can usually see a step or two forward. And when you have the courage to take those steps, one or two more reveal themselves.
- Develop your emotional intelligence: your ability to understand, manage, and direct your emotions, as well as your skill in reading and understanding the motivations of others.
“There’s a concept called: ‘stepping forward into the fog’. Even when the fog is densest, you can usually see a step or two forward. And when you have the courage to take those steps, one or two more reveal themselves. And so you find your way forward, far ahead of those cautious souls who wait for the weather to clear.”
Nathan S. Collier is the Owner and Executive Chair of The Collier Companies (TCC), where he oversees a portfolio controlling $2.5 billion in assets. A visionary real estate entrepreneur, Collier built his organization from the purchase of a single-family home more than 50 years ago into one of the largest privately held owners of multifamily housing in Florida. Today, he personally owns over 13,000 apartment homes and is actively developing seven 300+/- unit apartment communities throughout Florida and the Southeast region, supported by a team of approximately 400 dedicated professionals.
Guided by a lifelong passion for learning, Collier founded TCC with the intent to create a different kind of workplace—one with a true sense of community, a place that is a joy to live and work, and a place where team members truly care about each other as individuals and demonstrate that every day, in part by the depth of their commitment to quality, excellence, and customer service.
Collier’s belief in continuous education is woven into the culture of TCC. He co-teaches Collier College, a 10-week internal program that provides team members with an in-depth look at real estate investing, as well as essential life and professional skills including emotional intelligence, decision-making, goal setting, communication, and time and energy management. His commitment to education extends well beyond the company.
Nathan endows the Nathan S. Collier Master of Science in Real Estate Program at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, where he continues to teach case studies, annually. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at the UF Levin College of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor. Collier has delivered commencement addresses for the Warrington College of Business in 2010 and 2018 and will be giving UF Levin College of Law’s commencement address for the fall of 2025.
In addition to his contributions to real estate education, Collier is a passionate advocate for journalistic integrity and accountability. In 2019, he founded The Collier Prize for State Government Accountability through UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. In 2024, he established The Peter F. Collier Award for Ethics in Journalism, administered by NYU’s Carter Journalism Institute Ethics and Journalism Initiative, honoring both student and professional journalists who demonstrate unwavering ethical commitment under pressure. Collier also serves on the Columbia Journalism Review Board of Overseers.
A prolific writer, Nathan maintains NSCBlog, where he has published over a thousand posts on personal and professional growth. Each entry carries his longtime guiding mantra: “I share what I most want and need to learn.”
Photo Gallery
Questions?
Please email GatorAid@law.ufl.edu