Luisa Lambertini unanimously appointed Rector of USI

The USI Council has unanimously appointed Professor Luisa Lambertini as Rector of the Università della Svizzera italiana. The appointment was accompanied by that of Full Professor by resolution of the Academic Senate. She will take office on 1 July 2023. A world-renowned expert in the fields of international finance, macroeconomics and political economy, she was recently appointed Associate Vice President for Postgraduate Education at EPFL. The Rector-designate introduces herself to the USI community with a video.

Professor Lambertini is currently Associate Vice-President of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), at the head of the Doctoral School (with 2400 students and 22 programmes) and of continuing education. These two responsibilities are particularly relevant to USI's strategies and to a strengthened collaboration with SUPSI.

Professor Lambertini has held the chair of International Finance at EPFL since 2009, which she arrived at after a brilliant academic career developed at prestigious American universities such as the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Boston College. A world-renowned expert in the fields of international finance, macroeconomics and political economy, the new Rector has worked with a number of major international institutions, notably as an advisor to the European Central Bank (Fiscal Policy Division), the Federal Reserve Bank and the Swiss National Bank. She was president of the International Banking, Economics and Finance Association (IBEFA). For many years she chaired the WISH Foundation (Women in Sciences and the Humanities) at EPFL, inaugurating innovative initiatives, financed by private donations, to promote women's careers in research -- a priority objective for USI.

The selection of her candidature took place in an open and extremely competitive process, analysing the more than seventy applications received, which included a large number of outstanding individuals - testimony to USI's excellent national and international reputation.

Professor Lambertini was born in Bologna and is a Swiss and Italian citizen. Married to Prof. Demetri Psaltis, she has a daughter, Alexandra, who is currently studying at EPFL. To complement her academic achievements, she also had a brilliant sports career in the 1970s and 1980s, as a player in the Italian national handball team.