1. Roberto Cingolani was born on 23 December 1961 and is an Italian physicist, academic and manager who served as minister for ecological transition in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mario Draghi from 2021 to 2022.
15 Facts About Roberto Cingolani
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Roberto Cingolani spent his childhood in Bari where he graduated from the University of Bari in 1985 with a degree in physics.
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Roberto Cingolani obtained his doctorate there in November 1988, and his PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa in 1990.
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From 1988 to 1991, Roberto Cingolani was a staff member of the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, under the direction of Nobel laureate Klaus von Klitzing.
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Roberto Cingolani planned to move permanently to Japan to work at the University of Tokyo, but returned to Italy due to the death of his father.
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From 1991 to 1999, Roberto Cingolani was first researcher and then associate professor of general physics at the Materials Science Department of the University of Salento.
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In 2001, Roberto Cingolani worked as an expert for the Public Prosecutor's Office of Rome giving expert opinions on the Marta Russo and Unabomber cases.
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From 2005 to 2019, Roberto Cingolani was scientific director of the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa.
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Roberto Cingolani initially joined Leonardo in 2019, becoming chief technology and innovation officer and spearheading cyber and AI programs, leaving in 2021.
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Roberto Cingolani resigned from the board of directors of Ferrari on 16 February 2021.
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On 13 February 2021, Roberto Cingolani was appointed minister for ecological transition in the Draghi cabinet.
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Roberto Cingolani has criticized environmental activists for being too ideological in their approach and called for a slower, sustainable transition.
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Italian climate activists have expressed concern over Roberto Cingolani's calls for a slower transition and his statements supporting increased use of natural gas.
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Together with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Roberto Cingolani appointed senior diplomat Alessandro Modiano as Italy's first-ever special envoy for climate change in January 2022.
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Since leaving government office, Roberto Cingolani has been informally advising Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on energy policy.