Stefano Zapperi is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Università degli Studi di Milano, where he coordinates the Center for Complexity and Biosystems, and Research Leader at the Institute for Scientific Interchange (ISI) Foundation in Turin, Italy. He is an expert in the statistical mechanics of non-equilibrium complex systems and has worked in fracture, plasticity, friction, magnetism and biophysics. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is currently the chairman of the steering committee of the Conference on Complex Systems.