Guido Gottardi is currently Full Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Bologna, Italy. He embarked on his academic journey with a high school diploma in classical studies in Venice, followed by an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Padova and a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the Technical University of Torino. He then was Marie Curie Research Fellow at the British Universities of Southampton and Oxford, before filling a position of Assistant Professor in 1995. He has contributed significantly to academic and professional organizations, serving as President of the National Group of Geotechnical Engineering and contributing to international technical committees. Additionally, he provides scientific support to various projects of environmental and geotechnical monitoring, also in relation to historic sites and structures.

He is author or coauthor of over 150 scientific papers, covering a wide range of geotechnical subjects, from the physical and analytical modelling of the behaviour of shallow foundations to the soil characterization by in situ testing, from the assessment of the probability of failure of river embankments under transient flow to the stability analysis of ancient towers and historic sites.