Simona Zambelli

Simona Zambelli is Full Professor of Finance at University of Florence and Director of International Relations of the Department of Economics and Management. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics of Financial Intermediation, from University of Siena (Italy); a degree in Economics with a legal focus from the University of Bologna (Italy); and a second postgraduate degree in Finance, with a Mathematical Finance specialization, from the University of London, Birkbeck College (London).

After specializing in financial regulation at the University of London (Birkbeck College, UK, as visiting research fellow) and financing innovation management at Harvard University - Harvard Business School (Boston, MA, USA, as a post-doctoral fellow), she was visiting professor at the University of Leicester (UK), and IPAG Business School (Paris), as well as visiting researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute –RPI (NY, USA), and York University - Schulich School of Business (Toronto, CA), as the winner of various prestigious international Awards sponsored by the Government of Canada (e.g., The Canada-Italy Innovation Award; The Faculty Research Program Award).

Before joining the University of Florence, she worked as Associate Professor at the University of Bologna (Italy), coordinating a number of International Bilateral Agreements and holding various institutional positions, such as the Director of the Business & Organizational Unit (RUOS) of the Department of Management at the Forlì Campus. She has published several articles in international journals, including, European Financial Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, and Journal of Banking and Finance, as well as books with high-rating publishers, such as Oxford University Press. She has been involved in various program committees for international conferences (such as: European Financial Management, conference focused on Entrepreneurial Finance & Venture Capital Symposium, Montreal; II International Workshop on Banking and Financial Intermediation, SMEs, Growth, and Banking, Rimini Center For Economic Analysis; Conference on Emerging Trends in Entrepreneurial Finance, Stevens Institute of Technology, New York, USA).

She is currently engaged in various international research projects with York University (Toronto, Canada), as well as in a number of international exchange programs, as the Reference for International Relations and Exchange Programs with the Department of Economics of the University of Florence. Her main research interests refer to: Financing Innovation (Venture Capital, Crowdfunding, Private Equity, and Impact Investing), Neurofinance, Gender Diversity, and Woman Empowerment, as the recipient of various research Awards, sponsored by Government of Canada (Innovation Award), Government of Italy, Cariplo Foundation, INCORME Institute for Research in Management and Engineering (Best Paper Award), and Rotary International (International Ambassadorial Scholar Award). Her international research cooperation includes various venture capital projects with prof. Douglas Cumming.

She has written several international publications on: Private Equity Financing, Leveraged Acquisitions, and Corporate Governance in Private Equity. Her undergraduate courses (taught in English) refer to: Finance and Investments; Her postgraduate courses (taught in English) refer to: Venture Capital & Private Equity; Due Diligence; Social Impact Investing. Her teaching approach involves active participation, project works, and business games.