Francesco Profumo (born 3 May 1953) is an Italian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

who was Italy's

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 16 November 2011 to 28 April 2013. He has been president of the National Research Council (CNR) since August 2011 and had previously served as Chancellor of the

Politecnico di Torino The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is consi ...

from 2005 to 2011. He is also the current rector of Open Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

Profumo was born in

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

on 3 May 1953. He studied electronic engineering at the

Polytechnic University of Turin The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian Public university, public Institute of technology, technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban ...

and graduated in 1977.

Career

Profumo started his professional career in

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

at Ansaldo in

Genova Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitants ...

in 1978 and served there until 1984. In 1985, he moved to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

as a

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

and

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

at the local Politecnico. In 2003, he was named dean of the 1st engineering faculty of the Politecnico, and in 2005, he became rector of the university. On 13 August 2011, he succeeded

Luciano Maiani Luciano Maiani (born 16 July 1941) is a Sammarinese physicist. He is best known for his prediction of the charm quark with Sheldon Glashow and John Iliopoulos (the "GIM mechanism"). Academic history In 1964 Luciano Maiani received his degree in ...

as the president of the National Research Council (CNR). On 16 November 2011,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mario Monti Mario Monti (; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian politician, economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a Technocratic government (Italy), technocratic government in the wake of the European sov ...

appointed him Minister of Education. As of September 2020, he is a member of the Italian

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

After the ministerial appointment

In June 2013, Francesco Profumo was appointed president of the energy company Iren. On Dec. 13, 2014, he was appointed chairman of the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento, Italy, and on Sept. 5, 2014, he was appointed chairman of the School of Advanced Management Training (SAFM) in Turin, Italy. On May 18, 2015, he was appointed chairman of the board of INWIT, Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane S.p.A., a company of the

Telecom Italia TIM S.p.A. (formerly Telecom Italia S.p.A.) is an Italian telecommunications company with headquarters in Rome, Milan, and Naples (with the Telecom Italia Tower), which provides fixed, public and mobile telephony, and DSL data services. It is ...

group. He is also one of the four vice presidents of

ACRI Acri ( Calabrian: ) is a city with 19,949 inhabitants, located in the northern part of the Calabria region in southern Italy. Acri was granted city status on 17 September 2001. The etymology of the word ''Acri'' derives from the Greek word 'α� ...

. As of 2018, he is a member of the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation. In 2019, he was unanimously elected president of ACRI.

Other activities

Istituto Affari Internazionali The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) is an Italian international relations think tank, and non-profit organisation founded in 1965 by Altiero Spinelli. It is ranked among the global top-20 think tanks in the "Foreign Policy and International ...

(IAI), Member of the BoardBoard

(IAI).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Profumo, Francesco Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Turin 1953 births Living people People from Savona Italian academic administrators Education ministers of Italy National Research Council (Italy) people