In 1938 he took over as the head of the Department of chemical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano university, in a somewhat controversial manner, when his predecessor Mario Giacomo Levi was forced to step down because of racial laws against Jews being introduced in Fascist Italy.
Pada tahun 1938 ia menjadi KaBag Teknik Kimia di Politeknik Milano, dengan perilaku yang agak dikecam, ketika pendahulunya Mario Giacomo Levi dipaksa mundur sebagai akibat dari hukum rasialisme terhadap Yahudi yang diperkenalkan oleh rezim fasis di Italia.