I learned with deeply sadness that Gianluca Spina, President of the MIP – School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, was a victim in an avalanche on the Gran San Bernardo. Gianluca, was my age and was Professor of Business Management at the Politecnico di Milano. As Director and then Chairman of the MIP, he led the development of the business school in Milan, gaining the EQUIS accreditation and access in the prestigious ranking of the top 100 schools in the world by the Financial Times.
I remember meeting Gianluca at conferences of the Italian Association of Industrial Engineering and Management, in the second half of the nineties, when I was a researcher in the Department of Engineering. After my transfer to the Departmento of Economics, I met him again at Villa Guastavillani as a guest speaker at some of our masters. More recently, I have again been able to appreciate his kindness and his competence, when we met to talk about the institutional relations between public universities and business schools, and about the critical situation of international accreditations.
With the departure of Gianluca, the academic and economic community have lost a man of value and a leader who has worked for the economic and social development. To him my gratitude for the intellectual and active contribution with which he carried out his role and for being a friendly colleague and a loyal competitor.
My kindest thoughts go to the family of Gianluca, his students, his staff, and his colleagues. Together with the community of Bologna Business School I cling to them with affection and sorrow.
Massimo Bergami, Dean