Career
She has served as Minister of Education, Universities and Research since 22 February 2014. Born in Lucca, Giannini in 1991 became a professor at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, holding the chairs of Phonetics and Phonology (1992-1994), Sociolinguistics (1994-1998) and of Glottology and Linguistics (1998-2013). In 2004 she also became rector of the Perugia University for Foreigners.
Candidate in Tuscany with the Mario Monti"s party Scelta civica, she was elected senator in February 2013.
In November the same year, she was appointed secretary and coordinator of the party Scelta civica. On February 21, 2014, she was appointed to be the Education minister of Italy.