Elena Beccalli is the new Rector of Milan’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

By Vatican News

For the first time in the history of the University of the Sacred Heart of Milan, a woman has been appointed rector. Elena Beccalli will take over on July 1, after the painful death on May 23 of her predecessor Franco Anelli. Beccalli was a student at the university which she is now preparing to lead for four years, from 2024 to 2028. She was appointed by the board of directors meeting on June 20. The Board of Trustees' decision follows the appointment of Professor Elena Beccalli, already dean of the School of Banking, Financial and Insurance Sciences, by the University's 12 faculty councils on May 22, with 636 preferences out of a total of 685. , corresponding to approximately 93% of voters.

Cattolica, a “universal” reference center

“The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is a “universal” academic institution by vocation, where dialogue and confrontation are open, free, interdisciplinary and oriented towards the creation of networks and strategic alliances. It is a university that can offer – with precision, creativity and courage – a forward-looking approach to contemporary challenges, thanks to the coordinated efforts of its dynamic academic community,” said Professor Beccalli, thanking the academic staff and board of directors.

“The Università Cattolica must have the capacity to renew itself, implementing a process of innovation based on consolidated and recognized roots”, because, she added, “it is called to position itself as a center reference with a strong international outlook, for quality teaching. and research, in order to maintain the virtuous circle typical of a research university».

The values ​​of a story

The intention – she continued – “is to ensure that our university is a natural source from which civil society, institutions, the labor market and, in addition, the Italian and universal Church can draw . A model that can represent the best university “for” the world.” Regarding the future of bachelor's programs, Professor Beccalli stressed that “recognition of the quality of the educational offer will focus, in the long term, on the value of the interdisciplinary hybridization of programs and on the innovation required by social transformations and the world of work. our tradition, to care for students and enhance their study experience in welcoming, beautiful, functional and technologically advanced spaces.”

Career

Elena Beccalli, a fifty-year-old former student of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, is the ninth rector of the university, previously founder Father Agostino Gemelli (1921-1959), Francesco Vito (1959-1965), Ezio Franceschini (1965-1968), Giuseppe Lazzati (1968-1983), Adriano Bausola (1983-1998), Sergio Zaninelli (1998-2002), Lorenzo Ornaghi (2002 -2012), Franco Anelli (2013-2024) held this position.

Full Professor of Financial Intermediaries at the School of Banking, Finance and Insurance, where she has served as Dean since 2014, Elena Beccalli is an Associate Researcher at the Center for Risk and Regulatory Analysis at the London School of Economics (UK). ), where she was previously also a lecturer, lecturer and visiting professor. She is a research fellow at the Center for Responsible Banking & Finance at the University of St Andrews. She has been a visiting professor at the Singapore Institute of Management and the China Economic Research Center, Peking University.

Currently, Professor Beccalli is director of the Center for Research on Cooperative Mutual Banks at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. She is president of the Italian section of the European Society of Banking and Financial Law (AEDBF). She was a member of the board of directors of the Italian Academy of Economics Aziendale (AIDEA) and co-president of the European Financial Management Association. She is co-editor of Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions.

She is a member of the scientific committee of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation. She is a member of the expert group on socially responsible investment of the Italian Episcopal Conference. She was coordinator of the path leading to the Document Economic and financial issues, promoted by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Milan. She was a senior expert at the Finance and Humanity Village as part of Francesco's economy. She also participated in the writing of the document Mensuram Bonam.

His main areas of scientific interest concern the banking sector analyzed from the perspective of industrial organization, with particular attention to the themes of technology, efficiency, cooperation and financial biodiversity. In recent years, her studies have focused on issues of ethics and inclusion, sustainability, artificial intelligence, and women's leadership.