Mariana Mazzucato (°1968)
Profession: professor economy
Nationaliteit: Italian and American
Why an honorary doctorate?
The Italian-American Mariana Mazzucato is professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London.
She has received several international awards and is one of the three most important thinkers on innovation according to the magazine The New Republic, one of the 50 most creative people in the business world according to the website Fast Company, and one of the 25 leaders who are shaping the future of capitalism according to WIRED.
“Rethinking capitalism means rethinking the role of the public sector, the role of the private sector, the role of finance, and the relationship between them all.”
About her career
Prof Mazzucato has written several bestsellers, such as The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths (2013), about the role of the state in stimulating growth, and The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy (2018), about how value creation should be rewarded over value extraction. In 2021, she published Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism.
Mariana Mazzucato advises policymakers around the world about inclusive and sustainable growth, driven by innovation. As a special advisor to the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2017-2019), she authored a report on mission-driven research and innovation in the EU, with the aim of making missions a crucial tool in the Commission’s Horizon innovation programme.
Mariana Mazzucato has been nominated by the Faculty of Social Sciences & Solvay Business School.
What is an honorary doctorate?
VUB has awarded honorary doctorates every year since 1978 to personalities from the most diverse backgrounds who have made a remarkable contribution to their field and to society. From this solemn moment of recognition, they bear the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa of VUB.