A week of celebrations to mark the School of Management’s 50th anniversary

When Bocconi University’s Scuola di Direzione Aziendale, now known internationally as SDA Bocconi School of Management, was founded 50 years ago, Italy was a different country. The country’s industrial, economic and social challenges were rather different, but the spirit and drive of the founders were the same as those that still inspire the School half a century later: making of the best managerial culture the engine of economic and institutional development. Not just a business school, but a school of management in a broader sense, as Dean Giuseppe Soda highlights: “These first 50 years of history have seen SDA Bocconi establish itself among the most prestigious Schools of Management in the world, a school with the capacity to train managers in the public and private sectors. But it is the next 50 years that will confirm its role as an undisputed protagonist in facing the great challenges of today: social responsibility, sustainability and inclusivity.”

The spirit of the founders, culture and research are also the focus when celebrating SDA Bocconi’s first 50 years with a series of events in the setting of the new Campus. The first one, on Friday 24, was the inauguration of poetario, a work by artist Giorgio Milani that evokes the founding manifesto of the School. The embedded blocks of seeded concrete, 6 meters in diameter, lie by the entrance to the new Campus, in Via Sarfatti 10. The work, created with the financial support of the Faculty, is intended as a visible sign of remembrance and gratitude to the founders. The evening continued, rich in memories and emotions, with a party for the School’s Faculty and Staff.

But art is not only in the service of memory. In this context, research also becomes inspiration; or rather, an expression of the knowledge produced and shared by SDA Bocconi throughout the past 50 years. Entitled “50 years of ideas”, the collection of the most important research published by the Faculty is on show, using the evocative power of images and words: colors, graphics and text summaries to portray the power and impact of the knowledge produced by the School in an innovative form of communication.

The celebrations also include live music, video projections on the campus façade and some festive moments. The video shows will be on every night at 8.45 and 9.15 until 1 October, the final day of the celebrations.



SDA Bocconi School of Management