The Opening of the Ferrucci Institute House

On Sunday, October 25, 2026, Chapman University inaugurated the dedicated space for the Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research. The house, located at 434 N. Glassell, across from the Musco Center for the Arts, will serve as a hub for mentorship and collaboration. It houses a specialized research library, a film library accessible to students and faculty conducting research on Italy, a fully equipped conference and screening room for collaborative activities and mentoring, and the offices of the Italian Studies faculty

Addressing the students, faculty, and community, including several donors and members of the Ferrucci family, attending the event, Dr. Jennifer Keene, the Dean of Wilkinson College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, acknowledged the dedication and leadership of the Institute’s director, Dr. Federico Pacchioni, and the many generous contributions that donors made over the years. Among these gifts, she recognized the Sebastian P. and Marybelle Musco Chair in Italian Studies and Musco Italy travel class endowment, former president Daniele Struppa’s gift for the Bernardino Telesio Professorship in Italian Studies, the Institute’s founding and transformative gift by the Ferrucci family, and new endowments by the Carabini, Razzano and Giannantonio families.

In clarifying the Institute’s function within Wilkinson College, Dean Keene stated: “The mission of Wilkinson College of Arts, Sciences and Social Sciences is to foster rigorous inquiry among our students through a curriculum that’s grounded in scholarly, creative, interdisciplinary, and experiential learning. We aim to ensure that our graduates are prepared to assume their responsibilities as global citizens, acting knowledgeably and providing compassionate leadership in our community world. And if you think about that mission of the college as a whole, it doesn’t take a great stretch of imagination to see how the Ferrucci Institute fits into that mission, and therefore why the Ferrucci Institute is such a wonderful addition to Wilkinson College.”

Dr. Keene continued highlighting some of the aspects that make the Institute especially valuable to the mission of the college: “The Ferrucci Institute offers valuable educational experiences that make the Italian experience common ground for a diverse group of thinkers to come together from various disciplinary, professional, and generational perspectives within and outside academia. This is achieved through events and experiential learning opportunities that encompass summer and interterm travel classes and interdisciplinary pathways that bring together students and faculty to explore multiple aspects of Italian culture and history, art, and food. The emerging creative scholar fellowships for students in the Ferrucci Fellows Program for faculty are other examples of collaborative, liberal arts-based learning and exchange that take place under the Ferrucci Institute. This really is a place of fellowship and friendship, but it’s also a place where we are creating new pathways of understanding and knowledge, and after all, that is the role of a university. So we’re so proud to have this institute as part of Wilkinson College. I will have to say from my heart that the Ferrucci Institute is a perfect example of why we in Wilkinson College fondly refer to our college as the heart and soul of Chapman University.”

Also in attendance were Italy’s Deputy Consul in Los Angeles, Lorenza Errighi, and the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles, Emanuele Amendola, along with several Knights of the Order of the Star of Italy. In celebrating the longevity of Chapman University’s collaboration with Italy’s institutions of cultural diplomacy and the Ferrucci Institute’s new milestone, Consul Errighi said, “I’m very glad to be here for the opening of our new Casa Italiana, which is more than just a space, because it’s a room for culture, where ideas cross borders, and where the new generation can discover what it means to be Italian in an ever-changing world. . . This is the spirit of sistema Italia, working together to make Italian culture accessible, relevant, and inspiring for future generations.”

Director Amendola highlighted the long-term collaborations between the Institute of Italian Culture in Los Angeles and the Ferrucci Institute, including the Italian Perspective series held at the Musco Center every spring and other initiatives the Ferrucci Institute has been bringing to Los Angeles. He also reminded the audience that Italian “is a language with which we try to produce new knowledge . . . preserve and transmit our heritage . . . create something new together.” In thanking the Ferrucci family, he noted: “I believe their own history, the fact that it’s so rooted in Italian immigrant experience, reminds us how much Italian Americans have contributed to these countries, and how the opportunities created by one generation can become a lasting legacy for those who follow.”

Before cutting the ribbon with Dean Keene, Mr. Joseph Ferrucci thanked all of those attending the inauguration: “While it is true that we provided a gift that was the seed for this idea, for this institute and what it means, we really have to thank Federico and Chapman for helping to cultivate that seed, and we really look forward to what the future brings for the institute.”