Honouring a Legacy: Dr Gian Fulgoni receives Medal of Honour

30 Jul 2025

Six decades of UoM involvement marked with a special award and ceremony

Gian being presented with award from Duncan

In May 2025, our President and Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison attended a special ceremony in New York to present Dr Gian Fulgoni with the prestigious Medal of Honour, dedicated to many years of representation and support for our University.

Gian gained a BSc (Hons) in Physics from the University of Manchester, graduating in 1969. Most recently he concluded his tenure as President of the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester (NAFUM), a position he held with distinction for over a decade since 2013. His dynamic leadership significantly elevated the University's profile in the USA and garnered substantial support from alumni and benefactors.

Gian has also been a loyal and generous philanthropic supporter of Manchester in his own right: he provided the Fulgoni Enterprise Studentship in the School of Physics and Astronomy and a post-doctoral fellowship in research into the biomedical applications of graphene for cartilage repair. Most recently he has endowed a gift for NAFUM to support the Manchester Access Programme, and support for needy students during the Covid-19 pandemic. He is also a member of the University’s Global Leadership Board (GLB).

Gian’s background

Gian was born and raised in Pontypool, South Wales, the son of Italian parents who had emigrated from Bardi, a small town in Emilia-Romagna. He co-founded comScore, Inc., a digital marketing intelligence and analytics company, in 1999; the company provides intelligence to clients in the consumer packaged goods (CPG), Internet, media, retail and telecom industries. Gian retired as CEO of comScore in November 2018 after almost 20 years of serving the company variously as Executive Chairman and CEO.

With a career spanning more than 50 years of leadership in market research, and following a move to the USA, he started his career in 1970 at Management Science Associates, Inc., a market research company, and by 1977 had been named Executive Vice-President. Gian has held key roles at many leading companies, including Information Resources, Inc. through the 1980s and 90s, growing its annual revenues by 40% annually to over $500 million. He received the Wall Street Transcript Award in 1992 for increasing shareholder value and the Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year award for his achievements.