Mr. Marco Verzino, director of quality at Pirelli North America, kindly took time off of his busy schedule to deliver the first-ever Global Studies lecture at Darlington. As background, Mr. Verzino is the husband of Ms. Gabriela Zini, who teaches Spanish in our world languages department, and the father of sophomore Giulia Verzino.
The theme of the lecture was Global Citizenship. Mr. Verzino focused his presentation on the type of education and experience that best prepares one for a career in the highly competitive global economy. He related how his combined university education at Turin (Italy) Polytecnnic and Polytechnic (UK) University served him well.
Similarly, Mr. Verzino emphasized the importance of learning world languages; he began to learn English as a second language by age 11 and, later, French and German. Importantly, Mr. Verzino’s knowledge of several languages contributed to his developing productive relationships in international business circles.
Along the same lines, Mr. Verzino defined the working environment, the requirements for people to be effective in a corporate setting and compete in the complex global market place. These included organizational models requiring people to speak world languages to work in foreign countries and allowing to integrate projects developed by various portions of organizations in different parts of the world.
Students were given the opportunity to ask questions. The level of participation and curiosity among Darlington students attending was remarkable. Feedback from attendees confirmed the lecture was most informative. More lecturers will be invited allowing participants to fulfill the requirement for attending two lectures within the program.
We are very grateful for Mr. Verzino’s visit made a significant contribution to our students understanding the world in which they will soon operate as professionals.
Click here to see photos from the lecture.
