Giorgio Squinzi

Biography

Giorgio Squinzi, milanese, born on May 18, 1943 is married with two children. He obtained his degree in industrial chemistry at the Università degli Studi of Milan.   Together with his father, in 1970 he established Mapei S.n.c., expanding a business of the Mapei company founded by the father himself in 1937 and becoming responsible for Research and Development activities.   In 1976 he became General Manager of Mapei S.p.A. He started the company’s internationalization program in 1978 by establishing its first plant in Canada.   In December 1984 he became the CEO of the company.   Today the industrial group is composed of 70 subsidiaries, with 54 production plants, 9 of which operate in Italy, and the others in the rest of the world in 31 countries, in all the 5 continents. In 2011 the total Group’s turnover has been 2,1 billion euros. The Group counts over 7500 employees.   One of the most significant results of Giorgio Squinzi’s career as a manager is that Mapei has never had to reduce the workforce or to use public funds for assisting reductions in working time.   He has written several technical articles published in Italian and international technical reviews.   He speaks fluent English, French, German and Spanish.   In 1989 he was elected Chairman of Technical Committee 67 WG3, “Adhesive for ceramic tiles”, of the CEN – the European Committee for Standardisation.   He is the Italian delegate on the ISO 189 Technical Committee. On December 7, 1996, he was awarded by the Milan Mayor the Ambrogino d'Oro for his commitment as entrepreneur and sportsman for Milan. On April 6, 1998, he was awarded the maximum honor of Cavaliere di S. Gregorio Magno by the Vatican. On June 2, 1998, he was nominated Cavaliere del Lavoro della Repubblica Italiana. On December 21, 1998, he was nominated "Commandeur de L'Ordre de la Couronne" in Belgium. On December 10, 2002, he was offered the laurea ad honorem in Chemical Engineering by the Milan Politecnico. On December 4, 2006 he received the prestigious Leonardo Qualità Italia Prize from the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano and on June 5 he received the Premio Barocco, one of the most important awards in Europe, in the "industry" sector.   He has been President of Federchimica, the National Federation of Chemical Industries, from 1997 to 2003 and from 2005 to June 2011.   He is Vice President of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" from July 2009 on behalf of the City of Milan.   From October 2010 to September 2012 he has been President of CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council, representing 29.000 companies that produce about a quarter of the world’s chemicals. He is the first businessman who got the Presidency of Cefic, previously led by managers.   He has been Member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Italy from June 2011 to May 2012.   Already a member of Board of Directors and Committee of Confindustria, he has been Vice Chairman of Confindustria appointed to technological innovation and research from July 2003 to May 2004; since May 2010 he is President of the Technical Committee for Europe.  

Research Interest

innovation and research