PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Massimo Tistarelli

Massimo Tistarelli is a computer vision researcher at the University of Sassari whose work runs from optical flow and robot vision to face biometrics and the fusion of face and fingerprint data. Born in Genoa in 1962, he earned a PhD in computer science and robotics at the University of Genoa in 1991 and took charge of its Computer Vision Laboratory in 1994. In 2003 he founded the International Summer School on Biometrics in Alghero, and in 2009 Springer published his Handbook of Remote Biometrics. The International Association for Pattern Recognition made him a Fellow in 2008, and he chaired the European COST Action IC1106 on biometrics and forensics from 2012 to 2016. Today he is a full professor of computer science and director of the Computer Vision Laboratory at Sassari, and an IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor for 2026–2028.

Now at
University of Sassari
Born
1962
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1987–1991

    Degrees at the University of Genoa

    Born in Genoa in 1962, he earns a degree in electronic engineering from the University of Genoa in 1987 and a PhD in computer science and robotics there in 1991. In 1991, he receives a Best Paper award from the IEEE Computer Society.

  2. Since 1994

    Computer Vision Laboratory director

    In 1994, he becomes director of the Computer Vision Laboratory at the University of Genoa's Department of Communication, Computer and Systems Science, a lab he continues to lead at the University of Sassari. His research covers optical flow, dynamic scene analysis, robot vision and anthropomorphic sensors. He also proposes a method that fuses face and fingerprint data at the feature level and holds an international patent on a face-based biometric system.

  3. 2003

    A summer school on biometrics

    In 2003, he founds the International Summer School for Advanced Studies in Biometrics, held each year in Alghero, Italy, and he remains its director.

  4. 2008

    Fellow of the IAPR

    The International Association for Pattern Recognition names him a Fellow in 2008 for contributions to computer vision and to biometrics research and education.

  5. 2009–2015

    The Handbook of Remote Biometrics

    Springer publishes the Handbook of Remote Biometrics, with Tistarelli as principal editor, in June 2009. He serves as general chair of the 3rd and 8th IAPR International Conference on Biometrics in 2009 and 2015.

  6. March 2012–March 2016

    Chairing COST Action IC1106

    He chairs the European Union COST Action IC1106, Integrating Biometrics and Forensics for the Digital Age, which runs from March 2012 to March 2016.

  7. 2022

    A meritorious service award

    He serves as vice president of the IEEE Biometrics Council and as first vice president of the IAPR, where he also chairs the Fellow committee. In 2022, the IEEE Biometrics Council gives him its Meritorious Service Award.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Sassari

    He is a full professor of computer science with tenure and director of the Computer Vision Laboratory at the University of Sassari. The IEEE Computer Society names him a Distinguished Visitor for 2026–2028, and at the 2026 IAPR/IEEE Winter School on Biometrics he lectures on multimodal large language models for faces.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of SassariFull Professor of Computer Science
  2. From 2022International Association for Pattern RecognitionFirst Vice President and Chair of the Fellow Committee
  3. From 1994University of GenoaDirector

Education

  1. 1991University of GenoaPhD in computer science and robotics
  2. 1987University of GenoaDegree in electronic engineering

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massimo Tistarelli. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Genoa. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Genoa. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of Genoa. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Massimo Tistarelli yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Biometrics - The Lecturers - Tistarelli (bio) biometrics.uniss.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Massimo Tistarelli, Face Recognition: Past, Present and Future - IAPR/IEEE Winter School on Biometrics 2018 comp.hkbu.edu.hk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Massimo Tistarelli, Multimodal LLM for Faces - IAPR/IEEE Winter School on Biometrics 2026 comp.hkbu.edu.hk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Chronological List of IAPR Fellows – International Association for Pattern Recognition iapr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Action IC1106 - COST cost.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Massimo Tistarelli | IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor computer.org. Checked 20 October 2026.