Verona. A Third Term to Advance Digital and Cognitive Science, Diversity and Social Mobility at Bocconi

At today's meeting of the Bocconi University Board, at the proposal of President Mario Monti, Gianmario Verona was reconfirmed as Rector of the university. The third term of office, lasting two years, will begin on 1 November 2020 and will end on 31 October 2022.

Appreciation for what has been achieved and the need for continuity of direction and management, particularly in this historical moment, are the reasons behind the new confirmation.

Expansion of the disciplinary boundaries of social sciences with particular attention to cognitive sciences and consolidation of the computer science area, revision of the teaching model with strong hybridization of digital technologies, foster the University as a promoter of social mobility and as a place of cultural and gender diversity: these are the new guidelines on which Bocconi will have to work over the next two years and which represent the trajectories of the 2030 Bocconi Vision and the 2021-25 Strategic Plan on which the University, under the guidance of Vice President Andrea Sironi, is working.

"The results achieved by Rector Verona in recent years have greatly contributed to consolidating Bocconi as a leading European university in the social sciences," said President Mario Monti. "Although Bocconi will have to be increasingly projected on a European and global scale, the years we are facing – marked by some nationalistic retreats and a difficult social situation - will require Bocconi to pay more attention also to its legitimacy for its contribution to social mobility in the national community".

The Rector's mandate, under the sign of continuity, will always pay strong attention to teaching innovation, the consolidation of new programs related to data science and Artificial Intelligence, the development of B4i, Bocconi for innovation, and the international and digital consolidation of SDA Bocconi School of Management.

"The growing digitalization and the challenges of an increasingly global and interconnected society, as also demonstrated by the Covid19 emergency," said Rector Gianmario Verona, "require pioneering research and education. In the coming years we will continue on the path of impactful knowledge production, as in the recent case of the Covid Crisis Lab, and in the application of social sciences to the construction of a sustainable capitalism. In doing so we will also increase our commitment to ensure the cultural and gender diversity of the Bocconi community".