Gianmario Verona: A Year with Bocconi Alumni from All Over the World

UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, GERMANY, SPAIN. THE RECTOR VISITED THESE COUNTRIES, SOME MORE THAN ONCE, TO GET TO KNOW BOCCONI GRADUATES AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS TERM


Whenever he talks about his relationship with Bocconi alumni while listing the trips he made abroad to meet them during his first year as Bocconi Rector, Gianmario Verona’s face lights up. Since last November, he has gone three times to New York, twice to London and Paris, and once each to Barcelona, Berlin and Boston, inserting these meetings among the hundreds of other commitments that his institutional role requires. He has spoken to, listened to and debated with hundreds of Bocconi grads, each with their own history and memory of the University.

➜ Is there a common thread, a common approach in the relationship with the University among those who live abroad?
I feel there’s always a strong emotional attachment to Bocconi on the part of its alumni. They have a strong bond with the Alma Mater, built on the years spent in Milan as students, something that remains etched in their memory. Thus people are keen to reproduce the Bocconi community in their localities. There is affection towards Bocconi, something that invariably pushes alumni to pose the following question over and over: “How can I help?”.

➜ Have you noticed differences in the way various alumni approach Bocconi?
There is one marked difference and that’s generational. Especially in the more structured chapters that have been active for many years, I see the presence of three distinct groups - the younger ones who have newly joined the ranks of alumni, the fortysomethings, i.e. people of my age, and more senior alumni. This age difference also means having differing perceptions of the University. Senior alumni, for example, sometimes have a traditional image of Bocconi that is at odds with what the University has become.

âžœ That’s why it was important to strengthen the alumni network in recent years, so that all chapters share the same vision and message when it comes to Bocconi’s identity. But how do you transform affection into tangible support?
By communicating the crucial element that this is a living community that can always come to the help of its members. This is a decisive step we have taken in these last few years. It is from this sense of belonging that we instill in alumni a sense of duty about giving back to the University, by putting oneself at the service of the community. That way, an alum can contribute and return some of what Bocconi gave him or her as a student or professional. When, famous or not, our alumni are on campus to give a testimonial, afterwards they write me messages that make their pride and desire to be engaged absolutely transparent.

➜ Is this something that makes you proud as Rector?
Yes, it makes me proud and confident for the future, because it makes clear that the Bocconi alumni network has immense potential, not only in regard to placement and fundraising, but also for attracting new students (for instance, the children of our graduates that have made a name for themselves abroad).

âžœ Returning to the notion of giving back, in this year’s inaugural address you mentioned the commitment of alumni to the Bocconi community, something that Bocconi Alumni Association president Riccardo Monti summarizes with the three T’s: Time, Talent and Treasure.
Yes, these are all key elements of alumni relationships with the University. The support of donors is fundamental, but so is the practical help that alumni contribute with their professionalism, by devoting their time to mentoring and other activities. I’m referring, for example, to the implementation of the MBA selection process; for top business schools, the very first screening of candidates is done by the alumni of Master programs, prior to the actual recruiting process done by the University.

➜ So relations with alumni are becoming tighter. To conclude, what are the next stops onyour tour of the international alumni community?
I'm in Geneva right now; soon I'll go back to London, and in February I'll be in Zurich.
 

by Andrea Celauro
Translated by Alex Foti