The Governing Board of ANVUR is composed of the President and four members, selected from among highly qualified figures, both Italian and international, with proven experience in the fields of higher education and research, and in the evaluation of related activities. Members of the Board are appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, upon proposal of the Minister of University and Research, following consultation with the competent Parliamentary Committees. The Minister identifies the members from a list drawn up by a selection committee, following a public call for applications with international outreach.
President of the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes since 8 July 2026.
Venerando Marano, Full Professor in academic disciplinary group GIUR-07/A Law and Religion (formerly IUS 11, Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Law), has served as Director of the Department of Law and Pro-Rector for Regulatory Review and Institutional Relations at the University of Rome Tor Vergata since 2021.
He has been a member of the Academic Senate of the University of Rome Tor Vergata since 3 December 2020 (D.R. No. 2131/2020, D.R. No. 117/2022, D.R. No. 3784/2024), within which he serves as Chair of the Committee on Statutory and Regulatory Affairs.
He is a member of the University Committee for the Proper Implementation of the Quality Assurance System.
He is Coordinator of the Study programme leading to a single-cycle master’s degree in Law (LMG01).
He served as President of the Disciplinary Board of the University of Rome Tor Vergata for two consecutive terms.
He served as a member of the Committee responsible for assessing amendments to the Code of Ethics and Conduct of the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
As regards his involvement in leading national and international academic and professional associations, he is a member of:
- the Governing Board of the Consociatio Internationalis Studio Iuris Canonici Promovendo, which seeks to advance and disseminate the study of canon law and State law relating to the Catholic Church and other Churches and ecclesial communities;
- the Association of University Lecturers in the Legal Regulation of Religion (ADEC).
He holds numerous positions with leading specialist journals and academic book series.
In particular, he is Scientific Director of the “Vatican Law” section of the journal Diritto e religioni, published by Pellegrini Editore.
With regard to scientific and editorial boards:
- he is a member of the Scientific Committee of the book series published by the Department of Law of the University of Brescia;
- he is a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Il Carabiniere, published by the Arma dei Carabinieri.
He has served as a peer reviewer for leading national specialist journals and academic book series.
At other higher education institutions, he has served as a member of:
- the Management Committee of the Advanced Training Course in Management of Ecclesiastical Bodies and the Advanced Training Course in Management of Catholic Healthcare Facilities at the Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta (LUMSA);
- the Governing Board of the Centre for Studies on Ecclesiastical Bodies (CESEN) at Università Cattolica.
He has also undertaken institutional activities outside the university sector, holding numerous senior positions in the field of State–Church relations, and currently serves as President of the Vatican Court of First Instance.
His particularly extensive and distinguished scholarly output focuses primarily on current issues concerning relations between the State and religious denominations and the European dimension of the legal regulation of religion; family law, with specific reference to the development of the institution of marriage and civil unions and the related recognition and protection of civil rights; fundamental rights of the individual within religious legal systems, with particular reference to the recognition and protection of social formations of an associative nature; and the development of legislation on personal data protection within both the national and European Union legal systems.
He has taken part, as chair and speaker, in numerous major national and international conferences on ecclesiastical and canon law, organised and promoted in both academic and institutional settings.
Member of the Governing Board of the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes since 8 July 2026.
A graduate in Modern Humanities with a specialization in art history, awarded with honours, she also obtained—again with honours—a Postgraduate Diploma in Medieval and Modern Art History and a PhD in Historical Disciplines of Medieval, Modern and Contemporary Art, with a focus on the history and criticism of the visual arts in Southern Italy (6th cycle), from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Naples Federico II.
A scholar of contemporary art and of Italy’s higher artistic education institutions, her academic and institutional work has developed along several complementary lines: art-historical research; the conservation and restoration of contemporary and public art; the safeguarding of the tangible and intangible heritage of higher artistic education institutions; and the relationship between art and design.
She has published essays and monographs and has curated awards, exhibitions, books and conferences on art history, collecting, design, and the conservation of cultural heritage and design objects. Particularly noteworthy are the 2013 conference Patrimoni da svelare per le Arti del Futuro and the volume Accademie / Patrimoni di Belle Arti (Gangemi, Rome, 2013 and 2016).
She taught at the Academies of Fine Arts in Venice from 1989 to 1991 and Bologna from 1999 to 2005. Since 1991, she has taught Contemporary Art History and Issues in the Conservation of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples. She served as its Deputy Director from 2005 to 2007 and, from 2007 to 2013, as its first woman Director. In Naples, she expanded the Academy’s entire educational offering and enhanced its heritage through the opening of the Plaster Cast Gallery in 2007, of which she has continued to serve as curator; the installation of casts of the Parthenon Frieze in the new Great Hall in 2011; the reopening of the “Anna Caputi” Library and its integration into the library network in 2009; and the renovation of the “Antonio Niccolini” Theatre.
From 2006 to 2026, she served as Scientific Director for the protection and conservation of the artworks in the Naples Art Metro, Lines 1 and 6, one of the largest public art projects of its kind. She was Extraordinary Commissioner of the Academy of Fine Arts of L’Aquila in 2014 and of the National Academy of Dance in 2015. From 2016 to 2022, she was President of ISIA Faenza, where, among other initiatives, she oversaw the opening of the “Bruno Munari” Design Library. From 2019, she also served as President of the Conference of ISIA Presidents and Directors.
Since 2013, she has coordinated, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research within the AFAM sector, the technical working group of Restoration Schools responsible for the award of the professional qualification of cultural heritage restorer, as well as the working group dedicated to safeguarding the heritage of the Academies of Fine Arts. From 2015 to 2021, she was a member of the joint Ministry of Culture–Ministry of Universities and Research Commission responsible for overseeing schools authorised to award the professional qualification of cultural heritage restorer.
She has chaired the Evaluation Committees of the Academies of Fine Arts in Verona, Bologna, Ravenna, Genoa and Naples; ISIA Florence and ISIA Rome; and the Conservatories of Genoa and Salerno.
On behalf of ANVUR, the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes, she served on the Commission of Senior Evaluation Experts for the initial and periodic accreditation of programmes in Higher Artistic, Musical and Choreutic Education. She is included in all ANVUR registers of experts for the AFAM sector. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of IGIIC, the Italian Group of the International Institute for Conservation, and of the editorial boards of academic journals including Zeusi and CoRes, as well as of book series published by Edifir in Florence.
She coordinated the Restoration School of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples until July 2026 and, since 2024, has coordinated the Conservation, Restoration and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage curriculum within the Naples-based PhD programme of national interest.
In 2022, she was elected to CNAM, the National Council for Higher Artistic and Musical Education, and from June 2023 to July 2026 she served as its President. From 2023 to 2025, she coordinated the joint Ministry of Culture–Ministry of Universities and Research working group on AFAM heritage.
On 20 September 2024, she was appointed by Minister Anna Maria Bernini as a member of the working group tasked with supporting the Minister through the analysis, study and development of proposals concerning the reform of recruitment procedures and the quality of educational provision; the organisation and governance of university and research evaluation; and the revision of the relevant institutional structure and operations.
Since 2023, she has also been a member of the joint MUR–CNAM–ANVUR working group for the assessment of research quality in AFAM institutions. From June 2025 to July 2026, she served as President of ISIA Roma Design.
Vice President and member of the Governing Board of the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes since 8 July 2026.
Member of the Governing Board of the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes since 8 July 2026.
Francesco Priolo has been a Member of the ANVUR Board of Directors since July 2026. He graduated in Physics in 1985 and spent extensive research periods at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill (NJ, USA). .Full Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics since 2001, he served as Rector of the University of Catania (2019-2025), President of the Regional Committee of Sicilian Universities (CRUS), and Vice President, Executive Board Member, and Research Delegate of the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI).
He was also President of the European Materials Research Society in Strasbourg, a Member of the Research & Innovation Strategic Group at the European University Association (EUA), a Member of the European Research Council Panels in Brussels for PE3 Advanced Grants, and a Member of the GEV for Area 02 during the first VQR 2004-2010 (chaired by Giorgio Parisi). Furthermore, he served as President of the Micro and Nanosystems Technological District, President of the Scuola Superiore of the University of Catania, Director of the "Ettore Majorana" Department of Physics and Astronomy at Unict, and Director and founder of the MATIS Research and Development Center of the INFM, established through a competitive call and subsequently merged into the CNR as an Operational Unit of the IMM Institute.
For over six years, he was a PhD program coordinator as well as the supervisor of around thirty doctoral students. A member of numerous national and international scientific committees and coordinator of countless research projects, he served as Editor of Applied Physics A (Springer) and is currently on the Editorial Board of Applied Physics Reviews (American Institute of Physics). His primary research fields include nanotechnology and materials for electronics, photonics, and photovoltaics. In these areas, he has authored over 500 publications in international scientific journals, receiving more than 16,000 citations, with an H-index of 58 (source: Web of Science). He is a Member of the Italian Physical Society, a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, a Member of the Academia Europaea, and a Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
Member of the Governing Board of the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes since 8 July 2026.