New Talent at Bocconi
Each new addition is much more than an enrichment of the staff: it is an investment in the quality of research and teaching, an opening towards international perspectives, and a sign of academic vitality. Welcoming scholars who have gained experience at prestigious universities means strengthening Bocconi’s ability to train students who are ready to understand the complexities of the current world and, at the same time, consolidating the University’s role as a benchmark in global research.
“We are very pleased to welcome these new colleagues, who bring with them experience and expertise gained at some of the world’s best universities and research centers,” said Paolo Pinotti, Dean of the Faculty. “Their profiles strengthen our faculty both in disciplines where Bocconi has a long-standing tradition and in research fields where we have been expanding in recent years. In both cases, these are scholars with a solid background in cutting-edge approaches and methodologies. Their presence is an important sign of the vitality and attractiveness of our University, as well as contributing to making the research and teaching environment we offer our students and the scientific community even richer and more stimulating.”
Here are the profiles of the sixteen new Assistant Professors and one Full Professor, by Department.
L. Yashaswy Akella - Department of Marketing
With a PhD in Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, he joins Bocconi as Assistant Professor after a period as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Marketing at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College. After studying electrical and electronic engineering at BITS Pilani, he went on to study marketing strategies, price dynamics and business internationalization. Author of publications in leading journals such as the Journal of Retailing and the Journal of International Business Studies, he brings a solid background in quantitative and strategic research to Bocconi.
Randy Yang Gao - Department of Marketing
PhD in Marketing from NYU Stern, with previous education in psychology at the University of Chicago and humanities at Fudan University, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Yale School of Management. His research analyzes consumer decision-making processes, the cognitive mechanisms underlying price perception, and the biases that influence judgments and forecasts. Through experimental and quantitative approaches, his work contributes to a deeper understanding of consumer behavior and its market implications.
Ulrich Atz - Department of Accounting
PhD in Accounting from New York University, he has a background combining economics and statistics, with studies at the London School of Economics and the University of Mannheim, as well as a visiting period at Queen’s University. In addition to his academic career, he has gained significant experience in business and international organizations, including as Program Manager at the Open Data Institute in London and Chief Measurement & Technology Officer for a digital health startup. His research focuses on corporate transparency, voluntary disclosure, and sustainability.
Kasper Flyger Regenburg - Department of Accounting
PhD in Accounting at Copenhagen Business School, where he has been a postdoc, he spent a period of research as a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research investigates debt contracting, transparency, and sustainability in private companies, as well as studying illegal behavior within small businesses.
Mariya Mihaylova Todorova - Department of Accounting
PhD in Accounting & Control at INSEAD, where she also obtained a Master’s degree in Management Sciences, she holds an MBA from Purdue University. Her research analyzes the interaction between managerial capabilities and governance and reporting outcomes.
Simon Lukas Becker - Department of Decision Sciences
A mathematician trained in Berlin and Munich, he earned his PhD at the University of Cambridge, where his studies earned him the Vaclav Votruba Prize. After working as an Assistant Professor at the Courant Institute of New York University, he was subsequently Hermann-Weyl Instructor at the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on the fields of mathematical physics and quantum mechanics, with a strong emphasis on graphene and related materials, frequently correlating with spectral theory, numerical methods, and quantum information theory.
Zoraida Fernández-Rico - Department of Decision Sciences
Trained in mathematics, she received her PhD and master’s degree from the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada (IMPA) in Rio de Janeiro after graduating summa cum laude in mathematics from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia. She was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Statistics at Columbia University and, since January 2025, has been Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on probability, mathematical statistics, and optimization. More recently, she has been focusing on the design of efficient algorithms for high-dimensional estimations.
Jarosław Błasiok - Department of Computer Science
After earning his PhD in computer science at Harvard, he continued his career as a Simons Junior Fellow at Columbia University and then as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. Winner of the Best Student Paper Award at the SODA conference and Siebel Scholar, he has published in leading sources such as STOC, ICLR, and NeurIPS. His research addresses the theoretical foundations of machine learning, complexity theory, and the development of efficient algorithms for large datasets.
Elisabetta Cornacchia - Department of Computer Science
With a background at the Politecnico di Torino and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she earned her PhD in mathematics, she conducted research at MIT before joining the École Normale Supérieure in Paris as a Postdoctoral Researcher. Her interests lie at the intersection of deep learning theory and high-dimensional statistics, with contributions to the understanding of the fundamental limitations of complex statistical models.
Chiara Plizzari - Department of Computer Science
With a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and a PhD from the Politecnico di Torino, she has conducted research at UC Berkeley and the University of Bristol. More recently, she was a postdoc at the Smart Eyewear Lab at the Politecnico di Milano with EssilorLuxottica. She works on computer vision, multimodal learning, and artificial intelligence applied to complex data.
Luca Enriques - Department of Legal Studies
He joins Bocconi as a full professor of Business Law and is one of the most authoritative voices internationally on corporate law and financial regulation. After graduating in Law from the University of Bologna, obtaining an LL.M. from Harvard as a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD from Bocconi, he taught for many years at the University of Oxford and was a visiting professor at universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, and Columbia. Formerly a member of the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Consob) and advisor to the Ministry of Economy and the Bank of Italy, he is co-author of seminal books such as The Anatomy of Corporate Law and Principles of Financial Regulation.
Stefano Malpassi - Department of Legal Studies
A legal historian, after graduating in Florence and obtaining a PhD in Legal History in Macerata (cum laude), he conducted research at UC Berkeley Law and the University of Florence. He is a lawyer and was awarded the “Bartolo da Sassoferrato” prize in 2024 for his book La «democrazia economica» americana (American “economic democracy”). His studies focus on the relationship between law and economics in the 19th and 20th centuries, with particular attention to fascism and the New Deal.
Alessandro Petti - Department of Legal Studies
A legal scholar specializing in European law, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo and a visiting lecturer at Sciences Po Paris and the College of Europe. After earning a PhD from Sciences Po Paris, an LLM from the EUI in Florence, and a master’s degree from the College of Europe in Bruges, he gained experience as a Max Weber Fellow and research associate at the European University Institute. Author of the book EU Neighbourhood Law: Wider Europe and the Extended EU’s Legal Space (Hart, 2024), he focuses his research on European Union law, with a particular focus on geopolitical and security dimensions.
Stéphane P. Francioli - Department of Management and Technology
After earning a PhD in Management & Organizations from NYU Stern School of Business, he continued his career as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Visiting Lecturer at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research lies at the intersection of management and social psychology, investigating how major demographic changes—from the aging workforce to the growing contribution of women to household income—shape experiences, attitudes, and behaviors in the workplace.
Luca Gius - Department of Management and Technology
PhD at MIT Sloan School of Management, after studying in Pisa and at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, he focuses on markets for ideas and innovative entrepreneurship. His research analyzes the dynamics of innovation and commercialization of new technologies.
Diogo Gerhard Castro de Britto - Department of Social and Political Sciences
Assistant Professor and head of the CLEAN research unit at the Baffi Centre. An economist with a PhD in Law and Economics from Bologna, Hamburg, and Erasmus University Rotterdam, he continued his career as Assistant Professor at the University of Milan-Bicocca. He has published in leading journals, including Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, and Review of Economics and Statistics. His studies focus on the employment and social effects of job loss, unemployment insurance policies, and the dynamics of adaptation to climate change.
Víctor Sancibrian - Department of Economics
PhD at CEMFI in Madrid, he enriched his education with stints at Princeton University, University College London, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and Universidad de Cantabria. He works in econometrics, empirical macroeconomics, and labor economics, and was awarded the Premio Nacional Fin de Carrera.