In 1960 the University of Pisa established the “Ordine del Cherubino”, an academic honour conferred by the Rector of the University of Pisa, upon resolution of the Academic Senate, to full professors of the University of Pisa with at least ten years’ seniority, who have contributed to increasing its prestige for particular scientific merits and who have contributed significantly to the life and functioning of the University by holding significant institutional and organisational positions within it. 

The award is accompanied by the presentation of a diploma and an insignia depicting the head of a Cherub with six wings, the emblem of the University of Pisa. 

The 2024 ceremony to confer the “Ordine del Cherubino” took place on March 27^th at the Aula Magna of the Sapienza of the University of Pisa and was conferred to 19 full professors from several scientific areas. 

The Dean from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, prof. Marcello Mele read the reasons for awarding this recognition to Prof. Gianluca Brunori, which are reported below: 

“Born in Livorno in 1960, Professor Gianluca Brunori graduated in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Pisa in 1984, specialising in Agribusiness Economics in Viterbo. He joined the University of Pisa as a graduate technician in 1986. In 1999, he became an associate professor of Agricultural Economics and Estimation at the University of Trieste. He moved to the University of Pisa in 2001 and was appointed extraordinary professor in 2004. 
From 2004 to 2008 he was president of the degree course in Science and Technology for the Environment and the Territory, and from 2015 to 2021 of the degree course in Viticulture and Oenology. 
His scientific contribution is internationally recognised, in particular on the relationship between innovation and sustainability in agribusiness and on social and institutional innovation. The specific characteristics of agriculture, an economic activity that is strongly linked to natural cycles and the environmental context, have prompted him to become a promoter of transdisciplinarity in the scientific community, showing the importance of integrating knowledge from economics, sociology and ecology, systemic approaches, and participatory research methods, all aspects that now qualify the emerging ‘sustainability sciences’. 
He has carried out his research activities mainly within the European framework programmes, with participation in more than 40 projects. In recent years, he has developed a line of research on digitalisation in agriculture, coordinating projects within the Horizon programmes and contributing to the activation of new interdisciplinary educational paths. He is responsible for the activities of the PNRR Spoke 9 AGRITECH project for the University of Pisa. 
He collaborates with the European Commission, the OECD and the FAO, and with various public administrations at the regional level, in particular with the Region of Tuscany, of whose Regional Agency for Agricultural Innovation and Development he was chairman of the technical-scientific committee from 2006 to 2011. 
He was president of the section ‘Sociology of Agriculture’ of the International Sociological Association and vice-president of the European Society of Rural Sociology. He is a member of the Accademia dei Georgofili, where he coordinates the Advisory Committee on Digitisation in Agriculture. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Agricultural and Food Economics. 
For these reasons, the Academic Senate conferred the Order of the Cherubim on Professor Gianluca Brunori.” 

Several members of the PAGE group – professors, researchers and PhD students –  attended the ceremony and celebrated this great recognition with Prof. Brunori. 

The entire team congratulates Prof. Brunori on this well-deserved award and thanks him for his devotion, competence, care and sense of humanity in fulfilling his role, which represents a valuable example for all. 

Click on the link to read the original Italian news on the UNIPI website.