As the controversy over the manufacturer of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon continues, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the 49-year-old Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based firm BAC Consulting said she wasn't associated with the making of the pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
However, the ongoing row over the pager-making has revealed many interesting as well as mysterious facts about the CEO including her PhD in particle physics and experience in NGO jobs at different parts of the world.
As per media reports, speaking about Barsony-Arcidiacono, a schoolmate of hers said she grew up in a family with a working father and housewife mother in Santa Venerina, near Catania in eastern Sicily, and attended high school nearby.
It has been reported she received her PhD in Physics in the early 2000s from the University College London. She reportedly specialized on positrons and her dissertation is available on the UCL website.
Despite having a PhD, she didn't pursue a career in science. "As far as I know she has not done scientific work since then," Akos Torok, her professor at UCL told Reuters by email.
However, surprisingly, as per media reports, she described herself on her CV as, "I am a scientist using my very diverse background to work on interdisciplinary projects for strategic decision-making(water & climate policy, investments)."
"With excellent analytical, language, and interpersonal skills, I enjoy working and leading in a multicultural environment where diversity, integrity, and humour are valued", she added.
Setting aside her academics, the resume she used to get the job at Kleinschmidt mentioned several references to other post-graduate degrees in politics and development, from the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Her career also included a string of jobs working on NGO projects in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. According to the CV she used at the BAC Consulting website, she described herself as a "Board Member at the Earth Child Institute", an educational and environmental charity in New York. Surprisingly, the group's founder, Donna Goodman, told Barsony-Arcidiacono had never worked there.
Furthermore, in her CV she also described herself as a "Project Manager" at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2008-2009 whereas the official records revealed that she worked there for eight months as an intern.
