The delegation of the University of Milan
The University of Milan is the proud winner of an Ambrogino. A traditional appointment of this season, the awarding ceremony of the Civic Merit honours conferred by the Municipality of Milan took place on 7 December at the Dal Verme theatre.
This year, the Commission for the Granting of Civic Merit of the Municipality of Milan selected 41 winners for the awards to be conferred on St. Ambrose day.
More specifically, the awards given out during the ceremony were 1 Great Gold Medal, 5 Gold Medals in memory of deceased persons, 15 Gold Medals and 20 Certificates of Civic Merit. The Great Gold Medal went to the University of Milan, which is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. In front of an applauding audience, Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala and President of the Municipal Council Elena Buscemi handed out the medal to Rector Elio Franzini, who took the stage together with Deputy Vice-Rector Maria Pia Abbracchio, the University's Director General Roberto Conte, and student representatives Elisabetta Giampaoli and Elia Montani.
"This is an exceptional honour – Rector Elio Franzini said, – which confirms and celebrates the strong ties that our University has always had, since its very origins, even before its actual foundation, with its city. We are humbled by this award, for which I truly thank the Municipality of Milan. I would like to dedicate this award to our whole academic community, to our professors, researchers and technical, administrative and library staff, who have made this University great over the last hundred years, creating a hub of science, culture, knowledge and innovation for the benefit of Milan and our country. And I know that I am not mistaken when I say that this award will touch the hearts of the many generations of Milanese citizens who grew and learnt within these walls, where they were always free to debate their ideas, often in heated tones, on any topic and even in the darkest hours of our recent history. This way they came to be deeply attached to our University, and now they can feel this strong connection whenever they come back and go through these doors. I believe this too, is the duty of a great public university. Thank you Milan, from the bottom of our hearts."
The decision to award the Great Gold Medal to the University of Milan was based on the following grounds, which were read out loud during the ceremony:
"The history of the University of Milan, which today boasts a community of 60,000 students, is deeply intertwined with the history of its city. Born out of the passionate and forward-looking commitment of Luigi Mangiagalli, first Rector and at the time Mayor of Milan, the University was strongly supported by the city's ruling class. This support testifies to how the progress of Milan and Italy has always been tied to the advancement of science and culture. The University of Milan lived through a century, through the racial laws and the Resistance, counting among its faculty a prestigious name like Professor Piero Martinetti, who refused to swear allegiance to the fascist regime. Long-standing roots and an eye to the future: a hundred years after its foundation, the University recently laid the first stone of its new science campus in the MIND area. With this innovative hub for experimentation and synergies between different fields, the University is strengthening its historical identity, in an ideal continuity with its traditional headquarters, the architectural complex of the Ca' Granda".
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