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President Romano Prodi was born in Scandiano (Reggio Emilia) in 1939. After receiving the high school's diploma in classical studies at the Liceo Ludovico Ariosto of Reggio Emilia, Italy, Romano Prodi studied law at the University Cattolica of Milan, and in 1961 he graduated cum laude.
He did his postgraduate studies at the universities of Milan and Bologna and at the London School of Economics. Romano Prodi has also been visiting professor at Harvard University and at Stanford Research Institute. President Prodi's academic career began at the University of Boilogna, where, beside the teaching, he pursued an intense research activity directed, in the early phase, towards two of the most classical studies in Industrial Economics: development of small and medium size companies and of industrial districts and antitrust policy.
His name often appears in international literature next to Giacomo Becattini, Franco Momigliano and Paolo Sylos Labini, founder of the "Italian School of Industrial Economics". Later his research focused on the relations between the Market and the State; privatisation's policies; educational systems and their central role in promoting economic development and social cohesion; the process of European integration, and after the fall of the Berlin's wall, dynamics of the different "models of capitalism". From 1974 until 1978 he chaired an editing society, the "Società Editrice Il Mulino". In 1981 he founded "Nomisma", one of the major Italian companies of economic studies, and since 1995 he chaired its Scientific Committee.
From November 1978 until March 1979 Romano Prodi has been Italy's Minister of Industry.
From November 1982 until October 1989 he has been president of the Institute of Industrial Reconstruction (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale, IRI), the major Italian holding at that time.
In February 1995 Romano Prodi founded the "Ulivo" political centre-left coalition, which prevailed over the centre-right coalition: consequently, in May 1996, the President of the Republic instructed Prodi to form the new government.
In March 1999, the European Council chose Romano Prodi as President of the European Commission, based in Brussels, and the European Parliament confirmed this choice in September 1999.
In 2005 Romano Prodi became president of the "Unione", Italy's centre-left parties' coalition. After winning the elections , the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano instructed him to form the new government, and since then Romano Prodi is President of the Council of Ministers of the 59th Government of the Italian Republic.
Along his academic and institutional career Romano Prodi received many awards. Among others, he has been awarded the nomination honoris causa London School of Economics and Political Sciences , Real Academia cle Ciencias Moralesy Politicas of Madrid, Schumpeter Society of Vien, University of Madras, Sofia, Universitat Politecnica of Barcelona, Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, University of Michigan, Academy of Economics' Studies, Bucarest, Catholic University of Louvain, University of Malta. University of Modena- Reggio Emilia, University of Ottawa, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
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