What counts is the common goal

DEAN FOR ACADEMIC STRATEGY AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS MYRIAM MARIANI RELIES ON HER INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TO CARRY OUT THE DELICATE TASK OF MONITORING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN'S OBJECTIVES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF DEPARTMENTAL AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

“An important personal characteristic of mine? That during discussions, even heated ones, I am the one who calms everybody down, because I tend to see what the long-term goal is and what is the best way to get there by overcoming conflict. And besides, I'm direct, I don't have any mental superstructures”. Myriam Mariani, Full Professor at the Department of Management and Technology, is the new Dean for Academic Strategy and Institutional Affairs, a role in which her diplomatic skills are likely to come in handy.

There are those who have a clear idea of ​​what they will do when they grow up, and those who, on the other hand, need time to clarify their ideas. Either way, you can go far. Myriam Mariani belongs to the second category: “Academic career and research were neither something planned, nor a goal to be pursued at all costs. Indeed, since I had finished high school with honors, the choice to enroll in Economics and Business Administration at Urbino was mainly aimed at keeping many options open, waiting for the electric spark to arrive. It was also a way to get away from home, while remaining nearby". After earning his doctorate at the Polytechnic University of the Marches Region, it is in her two years of post-doc at Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT) that she discovers her passion for research on for technological innovation and the effects that technological changes produce in people. She thus began a career that led her to Bocconi in 2005. In her new position, she will have many responsibilities: “I will have to pursue three activities, essentially” she says. "The first will be to verify that the autonomy given for some years to the various departments, in matters of research decisions and use of funds, is consistent with the Strategic Plan of the University, obviously taking into account the specificities of each one of them. The second will be to represent the Rectorate in certain institutional activities with the Ministry, the Municipality, and the Region.

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Alex Foti