Margherita Fontana
Global Procurement Director
Dow
I have always been attracted by the less travelled roads. From Palermo, I went to Leiden, and I was the only Italian student there – but had I not done that, I would not have met the professor who invited me to come to ETH Zurich. And if it was not for ETH, I would not be here today.
I believe in the power of giving back. The best way to do that is to engage as an alumni – this is a really powerful network that can amplify the reputation of the institution. The ETH alumni network is not so visible, especially compared to some other academic institutions I am familiar with, hence my interest in the ETH Circle.
I see myself as an ambassador for ETH. Can we make kids more interested in science? Can we get more women into STEM fields? During my studies at ETH, I was among the 3 women ever doing a PhD in my group. When you miss out on diversity and inclusion, you cannot excel in a global context. To drive excellence one should be able to sometimes challenge the status quo.
The vision of the ETH Circle should be spelled out clearly: what is our ambition, and our strategy to get there, so we can monitor our progress. I would like the group to look at opportunities for lifelong learning and engagement, and how we can have a dialogue that helps us be better aware of the latest science and research relevant to us individually. I am also interested in getting to know the best talent in order to recruit them. It is difficult to access talent at ETH, unless it is in a specific field, so we might consider this more broadly, and explore the possibilities for mentoring students.

Martin Bosshardt

Philipp Rickenbacher

George Szpiro

Ogi Stanovcic

Felix Seidel Caprez

Daniel Naeff

Francine Käch

David Becker

Mulan Sun Buschor

Fabian Unteregger

Hans Gut

Shanthi Flynn

Lukas Fitze

Pascal Kaufmann

Philip Reichen

Kathrin Amacker

Matthias Bossardt

Martin Dahinden

Margherita Fontana

Luca Di Tizio

Garif Yalak

Jeannine Pilloud

Felix Graf

Adrian Krebs

Christophe Gence