Bocconi University

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Bocconi University
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

Established:	10 November 1902
Type:	Private
President:	Mario Monti
Rector:	Prof Angelo Provasoli
Staff:	1369 (as of November 2006)
Undergraduates:	7267 (as of October 2006)
Postgraduates:	3671 + 735 SDA
Doctoral students:	167
Location:	Milan, Italy
Campus:	Urban
Sports teams:	Pellicani PallanuotoBocconi
Affiliations:	EQUIS, Association of MBAs, CEMS
Website:	www.unibocconi.it EN

Atrium of the Velodromo at Bocconi University

Bocconi University (full official name in Italian Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi) is a private university located near the city center of Milan, Italy, not far from the Porta Ticinese, and was established in 1902.

It is recognized as one of Europe's leading institutions in business and economic education. Bocconi grants B.S., M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees, offers numerous executive courses and customized Masters, conducting them both in English and Italian language, in addition to a range of full double degrees, at both undergraduate and graduate level, with international institutions such as the Fudan University in Shanghai, the CEU Business School in Budapest, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, ESADE in Barcelona and HEC School of Management in Paris.

The university has been ranked among the top 20 best business schools in the world by The Wall Street Journal international rankings, especially thanks to its M.B.A. program, which in 2007 placed it no. 17 in the world in terms of graduate recruitment preference by major multinational companies ^[1]. Forbes has ranked Bocconi no.1 worldwide in the specific category Value for Money ^[2]. In May 2008, Bocconi overtook several traditionally top global business schools in the Financial Times Executive education ranking, reaching no. 5 in Europe and no. 15 in the world ^[3].

[edit] History

Bocconi University was established in 1902, with a generous endowment from Ferdinando Bocconi, a wealthy merchant and owner of a retail chain called "Magazzini Bocconi", who intended to commemorate his son Luigi lost in the Battle of Adowa. Ferdinando sold his "Magazzini Bocconi", originally meant to be Luigi's heritage, which were renamed in 1917 Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio into "La Rinascente" (eng. "that which is born again"), by which they are still called today. Bocconi University, with other economic faculties as "M. Biagi" of Modena and Reggio Emilia, became one of the first Italian institutions of higher education to grant a degree in economics.

The historical "Magazzini Bocconi" building, known today as La Rinascente, to the right of the Milan Cathedral

Since its inception, Bocconi has stood for liberalism, pluralism, and social. While a private institution, Bocconi has traditionally been more than an elite university. It has consistently promoted and practiced equal opportunity among the many generations of its students, by actively subsidizing the education for disadvantaged students. In the words of its first Rector and President, Leopoldo Sabbatini, a strenuosly democratic lawyer, Bocconi's aim is to "promote harmony between school and life."

Today, Bocconi is a university of international standing in business, economics, and law. It is also a research university, getting funds for its research projects from national and supranational institutions. By virtue of being a major node in the European and global network of business and economics universities, Bocconi exchanges faculty and cooperates on large projects with like-minded European and North-American universities and business schools. Bocconi has an exchange program with prestigious institutions such as Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the Wharton, Stern, and Goizueta business schools, and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Statue of Ferdinando Bocconi

Bocconi has close relations with major corporations and international agencies, as well as their managers and officials, and constantly interacts with the business and economic environment to tackle new issues, implement new techniques, and start new research endeavours.

Bocconi University is now structured around five major schools: Undergraduate School, Graduate School, Law School, PhD School, and, with a larger degree of autonomy, SDA Bocconi School of Management, its graduate business school. Bocconi presently offers Bachelor Degrees, Masters of Science, MBAs and PhDs in Management, Economics, Law, Statistics, and other disciplines. It also has a number of post-experience programs, and administers hundreds of customized advanced courses to managers and professionals in all realms of private and public management.

Furthermore, the university promotes and often organizes numerous activities for high school students in Italy, such as mathematics competitions ^[4], Model United Nations simulations^[5] and other major events aimed at orienting them during their secondary education.

[edit] Campus

Originally, Bocconi was located in Via Statuto, near the Pinacoteca di Brera, where its first building was inaugurated in 1902. The current campus of Bocconi is located between Via Sarfatti and Viale Bligny and consists of different buildings, all at walking distance to Porta Ticinese, the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio and the Torre Velasca skyscraper.

The first building in Via Sarfatti was designed in 1936 by the famous architect Giuseppe Pagano and is an epitome of modernism in Italian architecture. It hosts many classrooms, an aula magna, a restaurant and most of the administrative offices. Its entrance features two lion statues which are the subject of several university myths.

The pensionato building, which faces Via Ferdinando Bocconi, was inaugurated in 1956 by the architect Giovanni Muzio and hosts some grand halls, some of the canteen and dormitory facilities (350 bedrooms distributed on 5 floors), and some faculty offices. The different floors have an irregular form and bear the shape of a symmetric "L" letter.

The SDA Bocconi building.

The SDA Bocconi building, which is also in Via Ferdinando Bocconi, was opened in 1985 and features two blocks with a distinct set of dark metal panels. The building was extended in 2001, especially to host EGEA, the university's bookstore. The campus football pitch is placed between the pensionato and the SDA Bocconi building.

The modern Velodromo building was projected by Ignazio Gardella and launched in 2001. It is called so due to its form resembling an ellipsoid velodrome. Each of its four floors has about ten classrooms with a capacity of 150. The Velodromo uses a geothermal exchange heat pump as its air conditioning system, which contributes a lot to energy conservation.^[6] A marble statue of Ferdinando Bocconi overlooks the foyer of the ground floor.

Close by, in Piazza Sraffa, are the Library building (also built by Giovanni Muzio in 1962), the campus chapel "San Ferdinando", and some smaller buildings such as those with the offices of the "Language Center" and other extracurricular activities.

Several other administrative and research offices of Bocconi's individual institutes are scattered across the area, especially around Parco Ravizza and Viale Isonzo.

As of 2007, a new building with the form of the number "3" is being constructed near the Velodromo.^[7] When seen from a satellite, the line-up of these buildings will recreate the symbols of "30 L", the highest grade achievable in a university exam in the Italian academic system.

[edit] Academics

Entrance to the Velodromo and new building in background

[edit] Undergraduate programs

The University offers four three-year undergraduate courses in Economics which share a common basis in the first three semesters and then distinguish themselves from one another by focusing on either Finance, Social sciences or Business administration; the fourth course is taught in English language and is targeted at both international students and students pursuing an international career. Students in this course have the choice to major in Economics or Management.

A fifth separate three-year undergraduate course in Economics focuses on the economics and management of Arts, Culture and Communication.

The University furthermore offers a five-year course in Law, which incorporates the Italian equivalents of the Bachelor of Laws and the Master of Laws.

In a joint venture with the Central European University of Budapest, Bocconi also offers a four-year Dual Degree in International Business, the first two years of which are spent in Budapest and the latter in Milan. ^[8]

[edit] Graduate programs

The universities' graduate school offers different Master of Science programs in Economics, Management and Law, each with a special emphasis on the fields of Public administration, Environmental economics, Health economics, Social sciences, Computational finance and Risk management, Accountancy and Audit, Public utility management, Hospitality management, Logistics and Transport economics, Innovation management, Event management and Experiential marketing, Communication, Organization and Information systems.

The following graduate programs are entirely taught in English language:

International Management; Marketing Management; Finance; Economics and Management in Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment; Economics and Social Sciences; Economics and Management of Innovation and Technology; Quantitative Finance and Risk management; International Health Care Management, Economics and Policy.

In addition to these, the University runs several double degree programs with other institutions throughout the world: International management with Fudan University, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and ESADE; Economics and social sciences, and Finance with HEC School of Management and Université catholique de Louvain; Marketing management with Copenhagen Business School and Rotterdam School of Management; International and public administration with Sciences Po Paris and the University of Geneva.

[edit] Outstanding Students Scholarship

Full view on the ellipsoid Velodromo building, as seen from EGEA

Beginning in 2003, Bocconi University has started a conspicuous program of scholarships with the specific goal of awarding its best students. The scholarship, named "Borsa di studio per studenti eccellenti" (Fellowship for outstanding students), is addressed to the first 50 students (out of 1940 students) enrolled in the Master of Science courses both coming from a Bocconi undergraduate degree and from another university degree. The scholarship, in addition to fully exempt the students from the payment of the tuition fee, provide also them with a large amount of money.^[9]

In order to apply for the scholarship one must have as minimum requirements:

Completed the undergraduate degree at the first possible date
Completed the degree with full marks
Passed the GMAT with a score of at least 650
Been admitted to a Graduate Degree Program (among those offered by Bocconi) by 31 July 2006

Then, the selection of the best 50 students is carried out on an individual basis evaluating all the experiences included in the CV.

The pensionato building, between which the SDA

The major advantage of the scholarship, however, is the great visibility that it entails: most of the students awarded have found a job within the best employers of the Italian and international job market.

[edit] SDA Bocconi

Main article: SDA Bocconi

SDA Bocconi (SDA standing for "Scuola di Direzione Aziendale" = School of Management) is the graduate business school of the University and offers internationally recognized MBA Programs highly ranked by Financial Times and Forbes Magazine.

The SDA also offers professional education to executives and managers and publishes E&M (Economia & Management), a popular Italian business and management review.

Apart from the MBA, the SDA offers further Master of Science programs in Corporate finance and Banking, Real estate management, Fine food and beverage management, Fashion Management, Design management, Sports law and Sport management, and a Master in Stage and show management in a joint venture with the Academy for the Performing Arts of the famous opera house La Scala.

The new building, recognizable due to its distinct architecture, is still under construction and will host most of the research centers and individual institutes.

SDA Bocconi also has a combined MBA and Master of Arts in International Affairs (MAIA) with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Johns Hopkins University's Bologna Center.

[edit] Research and endowment

As of 2007, the University has 20 permanent research centers and four research project centers. There are 45 active researchers and 81 researchers with grants.

In 2006, research was mainly funded by Bocconi itself (€1,510,571), the European Union (€1,400,000) and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (€295,636), in addition to other external sources (€10,573,000).^[10]

Yearly, approximately 200 international publications and 300-400 national publications are done in the university.

[edit] Student life

The Language Center building

[edit] Extracurricular courses

While being a university that focuses on the economic, business and social sciences, Bocconi attempts to provide its students with interdisciplinary knowledge from a variety of other fields that can be useful in their future careers. Usually, the university does so by collaborating with visiting professors from other local and international institutions.

Elective courses such as introductions to Genetic engineering, Urban planning, History of art and Sustainable architecture are held throughout the year and focus a lot on their contemporary applications. Bocconi also collaborates with the Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI) of Milan, to set up a variety of modules within the field of International relations.

In addition to managing the compulsory language courses that all students must take, Bocconi's Language Center offers modules that delve further into the language and culture of specific countries.

[edit] Student associations

The University is home to a number of societies, some of which are directly involved in facilitating students' integration into the campus life environment and in organizing special events ranging from business games to excursions.

International Students at Bocconi (IS@B) mainly deals with promoting and implementing programs and initiatives for and with international students. The society often organizes conferences, Model United Nations and similar simulations, cultural visits, and trips to facilitate the integration of foreign and local students.

JEME Bocconi (Junior Enterprise Milano Economia) is a non profit "junior enterprise", the first to be founded in Italy in 1988, and it provides consulting services to enterprises in the region. Furthermore, JEME also organizes business games and business case competitions that are held in the university.

Tra i Leoni is the society which runs a campus magazine with the same name. The title, which means "between the lions", is a reference to the atrium of the main building, which is also a favorite meeting point for students, guarded by two lion statues.

In addition to these there are many local branches of external associations, for example AIESEC and Erasmus Student Network.

[edit] Bocconi Sport Team

Bocconi's students actively participate at and host different official national and international tournaments in athletics, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, water polo, sailing and other individual sports such as golf, swimming, skiing, snowboarding and skeet shooting.

The pelican is Bocconi's official sport mascot.

[edit] Notable students and professors

For a full list, see Category:Alumni of Bocconi University

[edit] Politics & Government

Luigi Einaudi - President of the Italian Republic (1948 - 1955);
Mario Monti - former European Competition Commissioner (1999 - 2004) and chairman of Bruegel;
Emma Bonino - Minister for International Trade in the cabinet of Romano Prodi (2006);
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa - banker and economist, currently Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance;
Patrizia Toia - Member of the European Parliament for North-West with the Daisy Party;
Marco Cappato - Member of the European Parliament within the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe;
Eduardo Missoni - Secretary general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement

[edit] Academia, Journalism & Literature

Nouriel Roubini - senior economist at the US Treasury Department;
Teresa de Lauretis - writer and professor at University of California, Santa Cruz;
Leopoldo Sabbatini - first dean of Bocconi University, vice president of the Milan Chamber of Commerce;
Alberto Alesina - Chairman of the Department of Economics, Harvard University;
Francesco Giavazzi - economist, journalist for Corriere della Sera, professor at MIT;
Beppe Severgnini - famous journalist, writer and columnist;
Valerio Massimo Manfredi - scholar of archaeology, journalist, TV host, mainly famous as historical novelist and for the film The Last Legion;
Tito Boeri - economist, responsible for lavoce.info, a web site of economic analysis;
Mario Biondi (writer) - travel writer, poet and winner of the Premio Campiello;

[edit] Business & Finance

Renato Soru, founder of Tiscali SpA and President of the Region of Sardinia;
Corrado Passera, CEO, Banca Intesa
Alessandro Profumo, CEO, UniCredit
Vittorio Colao, CEO Europe and Group CEO Designate, Vodafone Group Plc
Mario Resca, Chairman of the Board, McDonald's Italia
Paolo Scaroni, CEO, Eni
Marco Tronchetti Provera - President of Pirelli & C. SpA
Alessandro Lamanna, CEO Nokia Italia;
Andrea Formica, CEO Toyota Europe
Davide Stefanini, UNDP official
Milan Perovic, CEO Telecom Montenegro
Claudio Costamagna, Member of Partnership Committee, Goldman Sachs
Marco Saltalamacchia, Vice President, BMW Europe
Ruggero Magnoni, Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Europe
Gianemilio Osculati, Office Manager, McKinsey Italia
Davide Grasso, Vice President Nike for Asia Pacific marketing
Emma Marcegaglia, Chairman of Confindustria
Piergaetano Marchetti, Chairman of RCS MediaGroup (holding company of Corriere della Sera)

[edit] Other

Giovanni Giudici, the Bishop of the Diocese of Pavia
Pierre Casiraghi, third in line to throne of Monaco, son of Caroline, Princess of Hanover
Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Apulia
Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, Chairman of the Juventus football club
Katie Louise Saunders, English actress, famous for her roles in Virgin Territory and 'Tre metri sopra il cielo'
Nanni Svampa, guitarist of the Italian band I Gufi
Carlo Turati, comedian