Who We Are
Justin O. Frosini is the director of the CCSDD and Assistant Professor of Public Law in the Faculty of Economics of the "Luigi Bocconi" University, Milan. He is the author of several articles and book chapters and has published widely in English and Italian in the field of comparative constitutional law with particular attention for federalism, regionalism and devolution, constitutional justice and forms of government; some of his works have been translated into Spanish, Serbo-Croat and Ukrainian. His fields of interest are comparative constitutional law, democratic development, constitutional adjudication, devolution and federalism. With specific regard to the Western Balkans, between 2000 and 2004, Frosini was involved in several projects sponsored by the European Union to provide on-line training for judges in Albania, BiH, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Prior to beginning his academic career, Frosini was an active politician at a local level, and in 2007 he was elected to the Costituent Assembly of Democratic Party of Emilia-Romagna. Frosini is also a member of the Istituto De Gasperi.
Sara Pennicino is a non tenured Research Fellow of Comparative Public Law at the University of Padua, Italy. After completing a PhD in Comparative Public Law (2008) at the University of Siena she became a first year postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bologna’s School of Law. In the meantime, she also became an affiliated scholar of the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (CCSDD), where to date she holds the position of project coordinator. She is the author of numerous articles published in Italian and international law reviews focusing on common law systems, with special attention for American constitutional law. Her current academic work addresses the role played by electoral watchdog bodies in transitional and post conflict countries, with particular reference to countries that were assisted by the international community in organizing and conducting elections on the one hand, and solving electoral disputes on the other.
Francesco Biagi is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bologna’s School of Law. He holds a PhD in Constitutional Law from the University of Ferrara. His PhD thesis addressed “The Role of Constitutional Courts in Democratic Transitions: The Cases of Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic”. Francesco graduated from the University of Bologna in 2007 with a thesis in Comparative Public Law (“Electoral Courts in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis”), spending three months at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City. In the meantime, he also became an affiliated scholar of the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development, where to date he holds the position of project coordinator. Francesco is the author of articles and book chapters focusing on constitutional justice, electoral justice and transitions to democracy. He was involved in a series of projects, among which the one on “Electoral Management in Transitional Countries” (where he was the main researcher) and is currently coordinating a project on the Arab Spring.
Čarna Pištan is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bologna's School of Law. She holds a PhD in Constitutional Law from Bologna University after graduating in Political Science from the University of Trieste with a thesis on "The Relationship between Government and Parliament in the Croatian Legal System". Čarna became a member of the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (CCSDD) in 2011 where she is responsible for organising the European Union and Legal Reform Summer School in Montenegro. Čarna is the author of several book chapters and articles focusing on constitutional justice in Central and Eastern European countries. Her book on "Constitutional Justice in Eastern Europe and Post-Soviet Countries" is due to be published in September 2012.
Livia Mercatelli is the Project Coordinator of the CCSDD Summer School on EU and Legal Reform. She graduated in International and Diplomatic Studies from the University of Bologna. Livia is currently working at the International Relations Office of the University of Bologna as a project coordinator within the Erasmus Mundus program, dealing mainly with the following geographical areas: Latin America, Western Balkans and India. Livia has worked as an intern (project manager assistant) in a Spanish NGO involved in development projects focused on Education for Africa, India, Latin America and East Europe. She is particularly interested in international cooperation for development, university cooperation and international relations. Her fields of interest include: education systems, higher education, EU policies for higher education, EU policies for development, international cooperation, international political economy.
Steering Committee
Giuseppe de Vergottini is a member of the Johns Hopkins University Advisory Board and is the co-funder of the CCSDD. He is Emeritus Professor of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna. Prof. de Vergottini is an Honorary President of the International Association of Constitutional Law and of the Italian Association of Constitutional Law, Comparative, Political and Social Science. Over the last thirty years, he has held numerous positions, such as Vice President of the Consiglio della Magistratura Militare (in 2005) and President of the Class of Moral Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna. Prof. de Vergottini has authored many books and publications concerning public economy law, EC and comparative law, military and foreign law. Recent publications include Manuale di diritto costituzionale comparato, Padova, Cedam, 2011 (Spanish translation edited by UNAM, Mexico); Manuale di diritto costituzionale, Padova, Cedam, 2010; Oltre il dialogo tra le Corti. Giudici, diritto straniero, comparazione, il Mulino, 2010; Le transizioni costituzionali, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1998. Prof. de Vergottini is a world renowned constitutional scholar and is an expert in the fields of: comparative constitutional law, national security and emergencies, Government – Parliament relations, constitutional reform and federalism.
Kenneth H. Keller joins Johns Hopkins from the University of Minnesota, where he served as president from 1985 to 1988 and was most recently the Charles M. Denny Jr. Professor of Science, Technology and Public Policy at the university's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Among other leadership positions during his 35-year career at Minnesota, he served as vice president for academic affairs, department chair and graduate school dean. During the 2003-2004 academic year he was a professorial lecturer and visiting professor at the Bologna Center. His research examines the intersection of science and technology with international politics and economics. His recent writings have dealt with information technology and national sovereignty, the environment, the globalization of research and development, and policy issues in high technology medicine. Keller has undergraduate degrees from Columbia University and holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins. He has been a member of the Whiting School of Engineering's national advisory council and the Department of Chemical Engineering's board of visitors. In 1996, he received the university's Distinguished Alumnus Award. In June 2006 Dr. Keller was named President Emeritus of the University of Minnesota.