L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano v a r i o u s q u e s t i o n s i n h i s book while touching on an era of inequality and cor- ruption. We also celebrated the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death with A Poet in the Kitchen. Food and Wine in Dante's Divine C o m e d y , h o s t e d b y D r . Danielle Callegari, Assistant Professor of Italian studies at Dartmouth University. Talking about contri- butions to the commu- n i t y , t h e L D V S o c i e t y hosts a Gala every year to give recognition to Italians who made an impact on their field. Why is that important? I really love this initiative a s a c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e community, to raise funds and offer scholarships to deserving individuals. My dad was a linguist, a profes- sor, and an engineer. His passion was teaching, for free, to underprivileged stu- dents in our neighborhood in Treviso, Italy. He inspired me with his sense of duty towards less privileged peo- p l e a n d m a d e m e u n d e r - s t a n d w e n e e d t o p u l l together to help others and to reward people that pur- sue studies for the good of Humanity. This year, with m y f r i e n d a n d V i c e P r e s i d e n t o f t h e L D V Society, Dr. Ezio Valdevit, we decided to add a third scholarship. We made that happen with the coopera- t i o n o f t h e C u l t u r a l C o m m i t t e e l e d b y D r . E l i s a b e t t a N e l s e n a n d Amelia Antonucci. T h e o r g a n i z a t i o n i s now getting ready for m o r e e v e n t s . W h a t s h o u l d w e e x p e c t f o r next year? W e h a d o r i g i n a l l y planned a very interesting event in October but we had to cancel it due to a devas- tating storm that hit San Francisco. We postponed it to January 13 of next year, w h e n w e p l a n t o h a v e a wonderful, moving presen- tation by Carey Perloff. It is a discussion of a new play a b o u t E d g a r d o M o r t a r a , w h o s e s t o r y h a s b e e n reimagined by Perloff, the Artistic Director Emerita of the American Conservatory Theater, and inspired by David Kertzer. We will pur- s u e o u r q u e s t t o b r i n g knowledge and pleasure in a live environment. Due to the p a n d e m i c a n d e l e m e n t s b e y o n d o u r c o n t r o l , t h e Boar d of Dir ector s and I decided to move the young students' awards to 2022. The three recipients of the Leonardo Awards were selected, as always, by ISS- NAF (The Scientists of the North America Foundation) in a process led by Dr. Max Fratoni. Matteo Cargnello works a t t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f C h e m i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g , M a t e r i a l s S c i e n c e a n d E n g i n e e r i n g , a n d a t t h e S U N C A T C e n t e r f o r I n t e r f a c e S c i e n c e a n d C a t a l y s i s a t S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y . M a t t e o Cargnello received his Ph.D. in Nanotechnology in 2012 at the University of Trieste, Italy. He was then a post- d o c t o r a l s c h o l a r i n t h e Chemistry Department at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Pennsylvania, before joining t h e f a c u l t y a t S t a n f o r d University in January 2015. He is currently Assistant P r o f e s s o r o f C h e m i c a l Engineering. "As an Italian immigrant, it is an honor to receive an award related to one of the most creative sci- e n t i s t s t h a t e v e r l i v e d , reminding ourselves of the great traditions we bring here in the US from our cul- ture, while also contributing to creatively solving impor- tant challenges that know no borders," Mr. Cargnello said. Dr. Roberta Sala is cur- rently an Instructor in the Obstetrics and Gynecology D e p a r t m e n t a t S t a n f o r d University and is affiliated with the Institute for Stem C e l l B i o l o g y a n d Regenerative Medicine. She g r a d u a t e d w i t h h e r B a c h e l o r ' s a n d M a s t e r ' s d e g r e e s i n M o l e c u l a r Biology from the University of Padua, Italy. She got her Ph.D. in Clinical Oncology at Imperial College London and worked for the Biology D e p a r t m e n t a t S t a n f o r d . S h e t h e n m o v e d t o t h e Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in 2018, focus- i n g o n t h e g e n e r a t i o n o f h u m a n g a m e t e s f r o m h u m a n p l u r i p o t e n t s t e m cells. For Dr. Sala, "It's a great honor to receive the Leonardo Award, which is particularly welcome this year as a recognition of our h a r d w o r k d u r i n g a t i m e when a lot of us were not allowed to visit our home country. Being associated w i t h t h e g e n i u s t h a t w a s Leonardo is not only flatter- ing but also a reminder of o u r t r a d i t i o n s a n d t h e importance of our culture all over the world." C a m i l l a H a w t h o r n e i s A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r o f Sociology at UC Santa Cruz, a principal faculty member in the UCSC Critical Race a n d E t h n i c S t u d i e s Program, and a faculty affil- iate of the UCSC Science & Justice Research Center and Legal Studies Program. Her forthcoming 2022 mono- g r a p h w i t h C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s - - C o n t e s t i n g R a c e a n d Citizenship: Youth Politics in the Black Mediterranean -- explores the ways citizen- ship has emerged as a key t e r r a i n o f s t r u g g l e o v e r racial nationalism in Italy. In 2020, she was named as one of the national Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera's 110 Women of the Year for her work on the Black diaspora in Italy. She stated: "As a Black Italian and as a scholar whose work a s k s d i f f i c u l t q u e s t i o n s about the very definition of what it means to be Italian, it is very meaningful to be recognized by such a promi- nent Italian-American orga- nization. My work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on geography, Black studies, Italian studies, anthropolo- gy, and science studies; in the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci's radically boundary- crossing intellectual legacy, I believe that today's most pressing social and political problems require approach- e s t h a t r e a c h a c r o s s a n d trouble taken-for-granted boundaries between fields of inquiry." The Gala is open to every- one and tickets can be pur- chased by visiting the LDV S o c i e t y w e b s i t e https://www.davincisan- francisco.com Matteo Cargnello received the Math and Engineering Award SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Continued from page 28 The Leonardo da Vinci Society is a cultural organization and has been providing the community with lec- tures, concerts, exhibits and receptions with distinguished speakers. The main focus are Italian history and culture, and the contributions of Italians to American life

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