On 21 May, the jury for the 2026 Georges Gallais-Hamonno Research Prize in Historical Finance awarded its special recommendation to alumnus Michele Zampa for his PhD paper “Janus Faces of Progress: Evaluating the Dual Strategy of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno for Regional Development, 1950–1984”, which is part of his PhD thesis “Essays on Public Investment and Economic Development in Postwar Italy” (2025). 

Awarded by the French Finance Association (AFFI) in memory of Professor Georges Gallais-Hamonno, the prize recognises original research in historical finance combining quantitative rigour and historical depth. 

Currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Digital Humanities and Multilateralism, Dr Zampa will join the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics as a Visiting Fellow in September 2026, supported by a Postdoc.Mobility grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.