Born in Rome (Italy) on Feb. 12, 1948, Italian citizen,
married with one daughter (born in 1984). Fluent in Italian,
English, and French, with a working knowledge of German and
Spanish.
Study and Employment History
- July 1965, Secondary School Diploma, Liceo “Giulio
Cesare”, Rome.
- Nov. 1969, Degree of “Dottore in Fisica cum
laude” from Universita' di Roma
- March 1970-September 1971, CNR research fellowship in the
Department of Physics, Universita' di Roma.
- September 1971- July 1973, Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of
Physics, University of Rochester, NY, USA.
- July 1973-December 1973, military service.
- January 1974 - December 1979, Department of Physics, University
of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
- January 1980 – December 1998, permanent staff member at
the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
- January 1999 to date: Member of the Scientific Staff of
the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics,
Trieste, Italy
- January 1999 to September 2004: Chief Executive Officer
and Scientific Director of Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA.
- September 2004 to date: Senior Scientific Director of
Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA.
Summary of Activities
Nov. 1969, Degree of “Dottore in Fisica cum
laude” from Universita' di Roma (thesis advisor Prof. G.F.
Bassani, thesis subject: theory of impurity states in
semiconductors with many-valleys bands).
March 1970-September 1971, CNR research fellowship in the
Department of Physics, Universita' di Roma. Research activity on
the theory of impurity states in semiconductors and of the
x-ray spectroscopy of solid rare gases.
September 1971- July 1973, Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of
Physics, University of Rochester, NY, USA. Theoretical research in
the group of Prof. D.L. Dexter on the theory of optical constants,
of electronic excitations in the x-ray region and of semiconductor
magneto-optics. Particularly notable are the results on
superconvergence sum rules for the optical constants, which are
mentioned in standard textbooks (e.g. J.D. Jackson, Classical
Electrodynamics, 2nd edition, Wiley, New York,
1975).
July 1973-December 1973, Return to Italy for military
service.
January 1974 - December 1979, Department of Physics, University
of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA. Research Assistant Professor
in the group of Prof. J. Bardeen (1974-76), Assistant Professor
(1976-1979), Associate Professor (1979). On leave to Universita' di
Roma in the academic year 1977-78. Continues research activity on
the theory of the optical and magneto-optical properties of solids,
especially semiconductors
January 1980 – December 1998, permanent staff member at
the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, first in
Stuttgart (Germany), then in Grenoble (France), at the Grenoble
High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Max-Planck Society and of the
French CNRS. From June 1983 to July 1984, he is Acting Director of
this Laboratory. Between 1980 and 1987, his main research topic is
the theory of electronic states and magneto-optics in
semiconductor heterostructures (heterojunctions, quantum wells,
superlattices). The main results concern the description of the
in-plane dispersion of quasi two-dimensional valence band
holes.
January 1987 - December 1998, seconded to the European
Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, where he holds
the post of Research Director until December 1993. In this capacity
he contributes substantially to the build up of the Scientific
Division of ESRF, which, at the end of his appointment, consisted
of 145 people. He also shapes the general scientific orientation of
ESRF in condensed matter physics (in collaboration with the second
Research Director, responsible for the structural biology part of
the scientific program). During this period he also initiates and
leads the Theoretical Physics Group of ESRF, and performs research
on the new methods of investigation of magnetic systems based on
polarized x-rays. Since January 1994, as head of the ESRF
Theoretical Physics Group he continued and expanded this activity.
Among the notable results of this group are the sum rules for
circular magnetic x-ray dichroism, with widespread applications to
the study of orbital magnetism and magnetic anisotropy.
January 1999 to September 2004: Member of the Scientific
Staff of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical
Physics, Trieste, Italy, and Chief Executive Officer and
Scientific Director of Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA, the organization
operating the Elettra Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Trieste,
Italy. At the ICTP he leads a research group devoted to theoretical
research on strongly correlated systems, especially transition
metal oxides. During his tenure as Director the number of beamlines
grows from 6 to 20, the number of users per year passes the 1 000
bar, with over 55% coming from outside Italy.
October 2004 to date: Member of the Scientific Staff of the
Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics,
Trieste, Italy, and Senior Scientific Director of Sincrotrone
Trieste SCpA.
Publications and Lectures
He is author or co-author of over 150 publications (which have
been quoted about 2 700 times in the scientific literature from
1990 to date) and has delivered over 30 invited talks at major
international conferences. He served as Chairman of the Gordon
Conference on X-ray Physics held in Plymouth, NH, USA in 1997 and
as Chairman of the 13th International Conference on
Vacuum Ultraviolet Radiation Physics, held in Trieste, Italy, in
2001. He also chaired the program committee of the Conference on
Electronic Properties of 2-dimensional Systems (Grenoble 1987), and
co-chaired (with T.M. Rice of ETH Zürich) that of the
EPS-CM General Conference ( Grenoble, 1998 )
Teaching activities
During his Faculty appointment at the University of Illinois
(1976 - 1979) he taught one semester courses in the following
subjects: General Physics , Intermediate and Advanced
Classical Mechanics, Complex Variables and Analytic Functions in
Physics , Group Theory .
In the academic year 1977-1978 he taught the course
“Introduction to Theoretical Physics” at the University
of Rome
From the 1992-93 to the 1997-98 academic year, he taught a
course on "Synchrotron Radiation" to "Maitrise" students (4th year
undergraduates) at the Physics Faculty of the Université
Joseph Fourier, Grenoble I. He was also appointed external member
of the “UFR de Physique” of the same University.
Distinctions
In 1993 he was elected Fellow of the American Physical
Society.
In 1999 he was elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics
(UK).
In 2000 he was elected “Membre d’honneur” of
the French Physical Society.
Current Advisory Board Appointments
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Committee of the SLS (Swiss Light
Source) in Villigen (CH);
Member, Scientific and Technical Issues Committee for the
European X-ray Free Electron Laser Project, DESY-HASYLAB, Hamburg
(Germany);
Member, International Advisory Committee, PAL Synchrotron Light
Source, Pohang, South Korea.
Member, Advanced Light Source Science Policy Board,
LawrenceBerkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (USA).
