The President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at USI
Institutional Communication Service
13 May 2003
Il Presidente della Repubblica italiana Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in visita all’USI
USI welcomed on Lugano Campus the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, accompanied by the President of the Confederation Pascal Couchepin on his State visit in Switzerland. President Ciampi met with USI professors and students, the official delegates of both countries and representatives of the Italian Community on Thursday, May 15 2003 in the Aula Magna on Lugano Campus. The visit highlights the importance of USI double mandate as the only University in Italian outside of Italy: to serve as an academic bridge between the North and South and the promotion of Italian culture and language.
The event featured a welcome speech by University President Marco Baggiolini, a keynote by the President of the Confederation Pascal Couchepin followed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
It is the second time that a President of the Italian Republic honours USI with an official visit. In 1996, year of USI foundation, the former President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro payed a visit to the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio. Since then USI worked on consolidating ties with the Italian universities through cooperation.
Bocconi University, the University of Pavia, Politecnico di Milan and Università Cattolica di Milano are USI’s main partners. With Università Bocconi and Politecnico USI runs a double degree programme in Economics and Architecture.
