Honorary degree to Ignazio Visco in Statistical Decision Sciences

'He has put considerable energy into building the Bank of Italy's econometric model and developing studies and research with high statistical and econometric impact. During his career, for many years he headed the Study Service of the Bank of Italy, was also Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Department of the OECD, was Central Director, then a member of the Directory and Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy before being appointed Governor in 2011'.

For these cultural and scientific merits, the Department of Political Science at the Federico II University has decided to award Dr. Ignazio Visco, Governor of the Bank of Italy, an Honorary Degree in Statistical Decision Sciences.

The conferring ceremony will be held on Monday, December 19, 2016, at 11 a.m., in the Aula Magna of the Federico II Congress Center in Via Partenope, 36, Naples.

Speeches by Rector Gaetano Manfredi, Marco Musella, Director of the Department of Political Science, and Adriano Giannola, former Professor of Banking Economics at the Federico II University and Svimez President, will introduce the ceremony. Domenico Piccolo, Professor of Statistics at the Federico University, will give the Laudatio Academica. This will be followed by a Lectio Magistralis by Ignazio Visco. At the end, the Rector will confer the Degree.

Governor Visco's economic training took place in Italy and then in the United States (University of Pennsylvania), where he collaborated with Nobel Laureate in Economics Lawrence R. Klein. His scientific commitment was articulated in a vast number of researches and works that earned him national and international prizes and awards, as well as his presence on scientific committees and editorial boards of prestigious scientific journals.

In his long list of publications, which with continuity has grown over the years, alongside technical, economic and econometric contributions, there are also interventions of broader cultural scope, including, for example, the volume on 'Investing in Knowledge,' where a qualitative leap in the logic and policy of investment in human capital in our country is urged.

In the decision of the Federico II to confer him the honorary degree, his knowledge of statistical methodology, always rigorous and in-depth,also had considerable weight, allowing him to be present both in the econometric debate and in that concerning economic studies, where his contribution was often decisive in the choice of procedures that are still applied in Italy and that have constituted a relevant innovation in the European context.