B.C. enlists global expert to advise on sustainable, innovative, inclusive economic plan. (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Lori Cascaden

Communications Manager
Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation
lori.cascaden@gov.bc.ca
778 698-2892

UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

Media Relations
Iipp-mediaenquiries@ucl.ac.uk

Backgrounders

Facts about Mariana Mazzucato and UCL

Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London (UCL), where she is founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She received her BA from Tufts University and her MA and PhD from the graduate faculty of the New School for Social Research. Her previous posts include the RM Phillips professorial chair at the science policy research unit (SPRU) at Sussex University. She is a selected fellow of the U.K.’s Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and of the Italian National Science Academy (Lincei).  

She is winner of international prizes including the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She was named as one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation” by The New Republic, one of the 50 most creative people in business in 2020 by Fast Company, and one of the 25 leaders shaping the future of capitalism by WIRED magazine.

She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth. Her current roles include being chair of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health for All and a member of the Scottish government’s Council of Economic Advisors, the South African President’s Economic Advisory Council, the OECD Secretary General’s Advisory Group on a New Growth Narrative, the UN High Level Advisory Board for Economic and Social Affairs, Argentina’s Economic and Social Council, Vinnova’s Advisory Panel in Sweden, and Norway’s Research Council. Previously, through her role as special adviser for the EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2017-19), she authored the high-impact report on Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation in the European Union, turning “missions” into a crucial new instrument in the European Commission’s Horizon innovation program. 

About UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

The UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) was launched in October 2017. It aims to develop a new framework for creating, nurturing and evaluating public value in order to achieve economic growth that is more innovation-led, inclusive and sustainable. IIPP research and teaching engages with the international debate about using mission-oriented policies to steer the direction of economic growth. Refocusing and designing public organizations around public purpose-led missions will help tackle the grand challenges facing the 21st century. IIPP is housed in The Bartlett at UCL, known internationally for its radical thinking about space, design and sustainability.