Bio

ROMANO PRODI

Former prime minister of Italy and former president of the European Commission

Born: Scandiano, Italy

Age: 71

Education:

Catholic University of Milan,

cum laude in Law

London School of Economics

(postgraduate studies)

Career:

Professor of Industrial organization and Industrial Policy, University of Bologna

Italian minister of industry, 1978-79

Chairman of the Institute for

Industrial Reconstruction, 1982-89, 1993-94

Prime minister of Italy, 1996-1998 (after co-founding The Olive Tree, a center-left coalition); won second term 2006-08)

President of the EU Commission, 1999-2004

Currently: President of the African Union-UN Peacekeeping Panel; EU Chair of Sino-European Dialogue at China-Europe International Business School