The family of Sergio Serapioni was originally from Trentino, and maybe that is why he had a special relationship with the region. In the mountains of Trentino he fought with the resistance in WW2, and in the suburb of Ravina, in 1960, he founded a very successful yeast production company that was a leader in the industry for 40 years.
Sergio Serapioni (Milan, 14 June 1924 –Monaco, 13 October 2020) was an Italian entrepreneur, a passionate scientist, an engineer particularly fond of physics.
For all these reasons his son Raul Paolo Serapioni, senior professor of the Department of Mathematics of the University of Trento, decided to remember him in a way that will facilitate the transfer of knowledge and the progress of research. With a letter of intent dated 28 November 2021, he made a donation in memory of his father Sergio and allocated 150,000 euro to fund one three-year postdoc research position at the Department of Mathematics.
The successful candidate in the selection process, out of 14 applicants, was Stefano Borghini.
Borghini has earned a degree from the University of Pisa and a PhD in mathematics from Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa with a thesis on the characterization of spacetimes. He has previously worked at the University of Milan Bicocca and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden.
Raul Paolo Serapioni, who yesterday visited the Fabio Ferrari Science and Technology Campus, met Stefano Borghini with the director of the Department of Mathematics Ana Maria Alonso Rodriguez and Rector Flavio Deflorian. An informal ceremony was held for the university community, to underline the importance of donations as a contribution to science.
Sergio Serapioni
Sergio Serapioni (Milan, 14 June 1924 – Monaco, 13 October 2020) was an Italian entrepreneur, passionate about science with a love for Trentino.
A free spirit, in 1943 he joined the resistance in the Garibaldi Pasubiana Brigade and became a member of the Brentonico group, led by his father Aurelio. When he changed his views he left the group and also distanced himself from pro-Russian sympathies, as described in his biography "No ghe 'n vegno" (edited by Fiorenza Presbitero, Alcione Edizioni, 2018).
He graduated in mechanical engineering specializing in thermodynamics in Milan in 1954 and, three years later, founded Milano Thermosystem, focusing on innovative air conditioning and heating systems. The company built the first clean rooms for IBM in Segrate and the first wind tunnel for Ferrari in Maranello.
In 1960, in Ravina di Trento, he founded the Società Anonima Fabbrica Lievito per la Panificazione (which later became Società Trentina Lieviti and Lesaffre Italia), that made him even more successful and influential.
His interest in mathematics and physics continued until his death. To make his own contribution to research in these areas, he had already donated to the University of Milan and the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) of Princeton (NJ).