Andrea Della Valle Receives Honoris Causa Degree
GRADUATE FOR GOOD: Andrea Della Valle, vice chairman of Tod’s SpA, has received the honoris cause degree in economics and management from the Università Politecnica delle Marche, in Italy’s Marche region.
The recognition was bestowed on the entrepreneur who leads the Tod’s Group’s business alongside his brother Diego Della Valle, chairman of the company, not only for his business achievements but also for his range of projects and initiatives with a cultural and social bent.
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Marking the occasion, Della Valle gave a lectio magistralis (lecture) centered on entrepreneurship valuing the local territory, which reflects the firm’s responsible approach to business.
Over the years, Tod’s has earmarked 1 percent of its net profit to activities to support the territory, especially projects geared at underprivileged families. The company swiftly rebuilt a 21,600-square-foot manufacturing plant in Arquata del Tronto, a Central Italy town which was hard hit by a deadly earthquake in August 2016, and in 2019, contributed to FAI, The National Trust for Italy, in its restoration of the hill that inspired the poem “The Infinite” by Giacomo Leopardi in the early 1800s.
Della Valle has also spearheaded the creation of the Company Academy and Bottega dei Mestieri, or workshop, aimed at training new artisans for the fashion industry.
Tod’s most public effort to support the country has been the restoration of the Colosseum in Rome, which in 2010 was revealed as a 25-million-euro investment. The second phase of restoration was unveiled in June 2021.
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