Dino Ruta

Dino Ruta is a Professor of Practice in Leadership, Sports & Events Business at SDA Bocconi School of Management. He is Rector’s Delegate for the Olympic Movement at Bocconi University since 2024 and Bocconi University Representative to the CRUI4SPORT Commission of the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) since 2026.

His research and teaching focus on leadership and human capital development, particularly within sport ecosystems, with an emphasis on sustainable value creation, sport infrastructure, major event impact and legacy, and athletes’ performance and career development.

Dino earned his degree from Bocconi University in 1999 and his Ph.D. from the University of Bologna in 2003. He was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2002 and a Visiting Professor at Rutgers University in 2008. He joined SDA Bocconi in 2004 as Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Resource Management, became Associate Professor of Practice in 2013 and, since 2018, has been Professor of Practice in Leadership, Sports & Events Business.

In 2013, he founded the Sport & Entertainment Knowledge Center at SDA Bocconi, which he currently directs. He is Academic Director of the Executive Master in Business of Events (EMBE) since 2023 and Scientific Director of the Management Module of the FIFA Master – International Master in Humanities, Management and Law of Sports – since 2008. He is also Academic Director of the FIGC Football Management program since 2021 and of the 1to1 Academy in Management and Entrepreneurship for athletes and artists since 2020.

Since 2024, he has coordinated the Impacts & Legacy Study for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. At Bocconi University, he is Course Director of Sport Business and Management and created the Bocconi Sport Talents program to support the academic and sporting careers of student-athletes of national and international profile. Since 2015, he has also taught International Sports Management at Columbia University in New York.

His professional and advisory experience includes projects across different areas of the sports and events industry. Since 2026, he has served as Advisor on Infrastructure Legacy for the Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026, and since 2023 as Advisor for the UEFA Academy Career Transition Program. In 2025, he advised Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) on the Stadio Flaminio project, and in 2024 he worked on the candidature of Trentino for the 2031 UCI Cycling World Championships. His previous experience includes advisory projects with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), FIFPro, Juventus FC, RCS Sport and the Province of Trento, as well as work on the UEFA Licensing System and Financial Fair Play for FIGC and UEFA. From 2014 to 2020, he also served as Career Coach and Mentor for Javier Zanetti.

His research has been published in international journals including Human Resource Management, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, Social Enterprise Journal, Strategic HR Review, European Business Review, and Sport, Business and Management. His books and contributions have been published by Bocconi University Press, Egea, Edward Elgar, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Emerald, Routledge and Wiley. In 2025, he published Colori Olimpici. Lo sport e i giochi come scintilla di benessere e sviluppo with Egea.

He received Bocconi University’s Excellent Research Award in 2004 and 2008 and Excellent Teaching Award in 2009, 2011 and 2022. In 2012, he received the Ghirelli Award for the International Book of the Year for Management in Football, organized by FIGC.

Since 2010, Dino has interviewed leading athletes and sports personalities on performance and leadership, including Andre Agassi, Felix Baumgartner, Niccolò Campriani, Ivan Cordoba, Sasha Djordjevic, Arianna Fontana, Gianluigi Buffon, Michael Phelps, Luis Scola, Javier Zanetti and Mark Webber.

Alongside his academic and professional activities, he is Founder and President of Sport Impact Foundation and, since 2011, a Board Member of Consorzio Vero Volley.