Vincenzo Balzani, born in 1936, received his Laurea in 1960. Since 1973 he is full professor of chemistry in Bologna, Italy. He was visiting professor at the universities in Vancouver, Canada, Jerusalem, Israel, University of Strasbourg, France, University of Leuven, Belgium, and Bordeaux, France. His research interests are molecular-level devices and machines, nanotechnology, supramolecular chemistry, photochemistry, -physics, -catalysis, electron transfer reactions, luminescent sensors, and solar energy conversion. He is editor of several books, member of editorial boards of prestigious journals, amoungst Chemistry - A European Journal, ChemPhysChem, Inorganic Chemistry, RSC Dalton Transacitons, Chemical Society Reviews. He received several awards, e.g. Pacific West Coast Inorganic Lectureship, USA and Canada, 1985, Gold Medal "S. Cannizzaro", Italian Chemical Society, 1988, Franqui Chair, University of Leuven, Belgium, 1991, Wenner Gren Distinguished Lectureship, Sweden, 1993, Ziegler-Natta Lecturer, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, 1994, Italgas European Prize for Research and Innovation, 1994, Centenary Lecturer, The Royal Chemical Society (U.K.), Lee Lecture, University of Chicago, 1995-96, Blacet Lecture, University of California at Los Angeles, 1998, Porter Medal for Photochemistry, 2000, Italian-French Award, Societè Française de Chimie, 2002, Upper Rhine Lectureship, France and Germany, 2002, Premio al Merito, Camera di Commercio, Industria e Agricoltura della Provincia di Forlì-Cesena, 2003.