Francesco Profumo
President, Isybank
Francesco Profumo, born in 1953, was elected President of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation in May 2016.
He was Minister of Education, University and Research from November 2011 to April 2013 and President of the National Research Council (CNR) from August 2011 to January 2012.
In 2003, Francesco Profumo became Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Turin Polytechnic, of which he was Rector between 2005 and 2011. Also at the Politecnico di Torino, he is currently Full Professor of Electrical Machines and Drives, while he is Professor at the University of Bologna.
Internationally too, Francesco Profumo has worked in universities in several countries: Argentina, China, Hungary, Albania, Romania, Latvia, the USA, Japan and the Czech Republic. Thanks to this intense academic activity, he has received the title of Honorary Doctor of Research from 10 universities in different countries.
He is also a member of the Turin Academy of Sciences and the European Academy.
From 1978 to 1984, Francesco Profumo worked as a Design Engineer at the Ansaldo Company's Research and Development Centre in Genoa. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Telecom, Pirelli, Unicredit Private Bank, Il Sole 24 Ore and Chairman of IREN Group until May 2016.
To date, Francesco Profumo is President of the Bruno Kessler Foundation, President of the ESMI Foundation ESCP Europe/Campus of Turin, President of the CDI Italia, Collège des Ingénieurs Italia, member of the Board of Directors of the Agnelli Foundation, member of the Scientific Council of IIT.
Among other awards, he was awarded the Golden Lion in Turin in 2008, the Valdo Fusi Prize in 2011 and the Guido Carli Prize in 2011. He was also Chairman of the 2009 G8 University Summit in Italy and President of Columbus (an association of 55 European and Latin American universities).
Francesco Profumo was appointed Chairman of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation on 9 May 2016 and reappointed on 4 May 2020. He is also President of ACRI (Association of Foundations and Savings Banks SPA) from May 2019.