The Board of Trustees of La Scuola d’Italia [2] has elected four distinguished leaders to join the governing Board of the 300 student Pre-K through 12 bi-lingual Prep School in Manhattan, during its meeting February 26th 2015.

La Scuola, now in its 38th year as an independent, private school, is the only all grades Italian and English language school of its type outside Italy. Its Board of Trustees consists of 14 Italian and Italian American community leaders.

By unanimous vote the Board elected the following four individuals:

Hon. William J. Martini, Judge, United States District Court , fmr U.S. Congressman, served  a Senior United States district court judge of the District of New Jersey, from November 19, 2002 to February 10, 2015.  His highest profile cases to date include the corruption trial for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James and a case involving NYPD surveillance of Muslims. Judge Martini represented New Jersey's 8th congressional district in the U S House of Representatives, from January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997. Judge Martini graduated from Passaic High School, Villanova University, and received his law degree from Rutgers School of Law in 1972. In 1999, the Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman named Martini to the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a post in which he served for three years.

On January 23, 2002, Martini was nominated for a judgeship in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey by President George W. Bush. .

Judge Martini serves as Vice Chairman of the John Cabot University of Rome and Trustee of the Nicholas Martini Foundation, Inc.

Dr. Bette Talvacchia PhD is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Professor Emerita of Art History at the University of Connecticut. She has been a Fellow at Villa I Tatti; The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery in Washington; and at the Metropolitan Museum. Dr Talvacchia was also Robert Lehman Visiting Professor at Villa I Tatti, and was Visiting Professor at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai in Florence. Her publications include a range of topics in 16th- century Italian art and culture, and the books Taking Positions: On the Erotic in Renaissance Culture (Princeton University Press, 1999) and Raphael (Phaidon Press, 2007), widely considered the most definitive of recent works on the artist and his work. She holds her BA from Bryn Mawr College and her

PhD from Stanford University.

Giancarlo Bruno serves as Senior Director at the World Economic Forum in New York – the international institution for public-private cooperation. He heads the Financial Services Industries overseeing the Banking, Insurance and Asset Management sectors. He also serves as member of the Management Committee.

Before joining the World Economic Forum, Giancarlo spent several years in the banking sector in Vienna, London, Luxembourg and Geneva with international banking groups. His professional experience in the public/multilaterals sector includes the United Nations, the European Parliament and Istat, the Italian Institute of Statistics.

In 1993 Giancarlo earned a MS with honors in Economics and Business Management from Università Commerciale L. Bocconi, Milan, with a dissertation in Public Policy on the European Structural Funds for regional economic development. In 1995 he received a Master’s degree in International Management from the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, the University of Economics of Vienna, and in 2010 he was awarded the Global Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, with a thesis advised by Prof. Romano Prodi on the political and legal aspects of the European enlargement process, a comparative analysis of the case of Poland and Turkey. In 2006-2008 he served as a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, focusing on social mobility issues in Europe. Executive education programmes at Insead, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Said Business School at the University of Oxford.

He is member of the Bretton Woods Committee, the International Advisory Group of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the University Club of New York and of the advisory board of the Global Shapers Hub of Milan; he is an Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. He was a founding member of the steering board of the association Italia Futura and the association iMille for political reform in Italy. Giancarlo is fluent in ive languages and has taught Italian literature and culture at the Université du Canton de Genève, Geneva.

Luigi Rosabianca is the Co-Founder of WIRE Consulting, a global real estate consultancy and the Principal Broker for the firm’s international brokerage division, WIRE International Realty.

WIRE International Realty is a New York City–based luxury real estate brokerage. The New York office’s portfolio features new developments, sales and rentals throughout Manhattan, The Metropolitan Area and The Hamptons. Hailing from all over the world, WIRE’s Clients have access to a seasoned and multilingual sales and marketing team, and more importantly, to exceptional customer service through each part of the deal process. As a member of the WIRE Network, the WIRE Team prides itself on its international connections, but also its boutique approach.

Mr. Rosabianca specializes in all facets of commercial and residential real property matters.  He serves on numerous condominium and cooperative boards throughout New York City and the outer boroughs and is frequently asked to speak at field-related conferences and academic settings.  Mr. Rosabianca devotes much of his time to an array of charities, including the American-Italian Cancer Foundation as well as The Boys' Towns of Italy. He is also the Vice President of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce and serves on their Board of Directors.

A graduate of Brooklyn Law School, Mr. Rosabianca also received his B.A. in government and politics, with a concentration in architecture, from St. John's University.

A native New Yorker, Mr. Rosabianca has strong ties to his family and Italian heritage, which he believes are the cornerstones of his firm's mission. He enjoys traveling, sports, and the company of good friends and family.

The four join a Board that includes: Chairman Stefano Acunto, Vice Chairman Piera Palazzolo, Secretary Dr. Pascal J. de Caprariis, MD, FAAFP, Dr. Francesca Verga, MD, Hon Justice Dominic Massaro, Carlo Mantica, Baronessa Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo, Thomas Pecora, and Dr. Richard Marrotta PhD.

About La Scuola d'Italia:

La Scuola d’Italia “Guglielmo Marconi” was founded in 1977 by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet the academic needs of Italians living in the New York City area.  Thanks to an ever-increasing interest on the part of American families, La Scuola has grown into a unique, independent bilingual English/Italian educational institution, from the Pre-school through through grade 12), reflecting and building on the best features of the Italian and American educational systems.

In addition to being recognized by the Italian Ministry of Education, the school is also chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. Therefore our students graduate with a high school diploma that is officially recognized both in the United States and Italy. La Scuola is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.

With a curriculum that is global and interdisciplinary and a student body from all regions of the world, La Scuola d’Italia is a truly international school. For more information, please visit www.lascuoladitalia.org [3],