Massimo Arrighi: The MBA Changed My Life, I Want to Change the Lives of Others

And because of what is called a life experience. Arrighi grew up in the province of Turin, completed a degree in economics studies, and developed a strong desire to attend a Master in Business Administration in Milan. The experience of a lifetime was in this case the MBA program that Massimo Arrighi attended at SDA Bocconi School of Management in 1985. He was able to attend the program through a scholarship granted by Fidis, then the financial holding of the Agnelli family. "I still have the letter from Romiti telling me I had been chosen out of over 400 applicants. Thanks to the scholarship, I was able to move to Milan and meet people I'm still in touch with. Most importantly, I started what for me proved to be a fundamental experience that would change my professional career."

Today, as a partner at the A.T. Kearney consulting firm, in a career that took him first to McKinsey for five years, then to RAS for ten and Fideuram for another three (where he held the position of managing director), Arrighi looks back and sees his start at Via Bocconi 8: "I find it is the right thing to do, to contribute to something that was so important for me, so I've decided to give again to the MBA Reunion Scholarship Fund. This will help new MBA students at SDA Bocconi, to give others the opportunity to take advantage of such a springboard for one's career." Arrighi's enthusiasm does not stop here, nor does his involvement with Bocconi: his daughter graduated with a degree in Law from Via Sarfatti three years ago and he himself is a member of the Board of the SDA Bocconi School of Management. And, as a Bocconi alum, he concludes by giving a couple of tips for those who are about to enter Bocconi: "Learn to speak English as fluently as Italian and follow a maxim circulating among US grad students: 'I'm not here to land a good job, but to build my profession.'"