Fernando Vianello

Fernando Vianello (17 August 1939 – 10 August 2009) was an Italian economist and academic. Together with Michele Salvati, Sebastiano Brusco, Andrea Ginzburg and Salvatore Biasco, he founded the Faculty of Economics of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. In 1963 Vianello graduated with a degree in law from the University of Bologna, presenting a thesis on Italian economic development under the supervision of Paolo Sylos Labini. In the same year he attended the sixth training course on "Economic Development" organized in Rome by SVIMEZ (Italian Association of Southern Italy's Industries Development), managed by Claudio Napoleoni. From 1964 to 1966 he was an assistant professor in the "Principles of Political Economy" course held by Sylos Labini at the Faculty of Statistics of the "Sapienza" University of Rome. In 1966 Vianello enrolled as an undergraduate student at Jesus College, Cambridge, and began attending economic courses taught by Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor, Richard Kahn and James Meade. In 1968 he obtained a BA degree in economics (Bachelor of Arts Degree) from the University of Cambridge. During his career Prof. Vianello had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most important Italian economists of the twentieth century, such as Federico Caffè, Paolo Sylos Labini and Pierangelo Garegnani. He held a number of posts at several different universities: Faculty of Economic and Banking Sciences Associate Professor of History of Economic Doctrines. Faculty of Economics Associate (later full) Professor of History of Economic Doctrines (1969–1987). Faculty of Economics Director of Public Economics Department (1988–1989). Full Professor of Economics and History of Economic Analysis (1987–2009). Head of the PhD course in Economics (1999–2001). Professor of Macroeconomics in PhD course in Economics (1987–2009). Over the course of his long career Prof. Vianello developed his expertise in several different research fields. He worked with the theories of value and distribution of income and paid special attention to the link between capital accumulation and the profit rate.