Alexis Phylactopoulos

President

Alexis Phylactopoulos is responsible for the overall direction, operation, and development of the International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies (DIKEMES) and College Year in Athens. Mr. Phylactopoulos (Mr. Phyl) earned his first degree from the Law School of the University of Athens and his post-graduate degrees from Princeton University (The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs), and the University of Cambridge (Wolfson College). In his professional career, he first served as a diplomat for the Greek government in Washington, D.C. (1976–1981), where he directed the Greek Embassy’s Press and Information Service. He subsequently served in the same capacity in Mexico City (1981–1984). Upon returning to Athens, he served as Director of External Relations at the Federation of Greek Industries. He assumed the Directorship of College Year in Athens in 1986.

Elina Sinopoulou

Assistant to the President

  Elina studied Mass Media and Communication at the National University of Athens and at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, where she received an M.A. in Communication.
She has worked  in publications and electronic media since 1998. In her most recent job she was the Editorial Coordinator of the Greek Edition of National Geographic. Elina joined CYA in 2016.

Theoni Scourta

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Theoni Scourta was born in Patras, Greece. She is an art historian with research interest in contemporary art. She received an M.A. from California State University, Los Angeles in Art History and another M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Indianapolis. She has taught for more than 25 years both in the US and in Greece. She served as advisor to the head of the Greek EPP-ED delegation to European Parliament in Brussels for 5 years, after which she returned to Athens to head the academic department of AKTO Art & Design College. She joined the CYA administration in spring 2013.

Maria Tsahas

Registrar - Fundraising Officer

Maria Tshahas was born in Ikaria, Greece but grew up in Northwest Indiana. She received an MS Ed from Indiana University Northwest. She taught in the US before moving back to Greece in 1999 and started working at the University of Indianapolis, Athens Campus as an Admissions Officer and Registrar. She joined CYA in 2014.

Georgia Katsarou

Librarian

Georgia Katsarou joined CYA in 2006 and is responsible for all library activities. She received her B.S. in Librarianship in 2001 from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and her M.S. in 2005 from the University of Aberystwyth. In 2015 she was trained on Managing Archival Photographs through distance learning by the Archives Association of British Columbia.

Despina Iosif

Academic Advisor

Despina Iosif is a historian of theology. She received a BA in History and Archaeology and an MA in Ancient History from the University of Crete and a PhD in Early Christianity from University College London. She conducted her post-doc on Late Antiquity at the University of Thessaly and research on Monotheism at the Fondation Hardt in Geneva. Among her academic publications are the following books: Early Christian Attitudes to War, Violence and Military Service, (Gorgias Press, 2013), Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, (Katarti, co-authored with M. Triantafyllou, 2008) and The Byzantine Empire, (OTEK, 2008), and articles: ''Augustine on Religious Coercion'' in Augustine. Literature in Context, (Cambridge University Press, 2017), ‘“Early Christian Aloofness and Participation in the Pagan World”, in Cults, Creeds and Identities, (Peeters, 2013), and “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Illness as Demon Possession in the World of the First Christian Ascetics and Monks”, (Mental Health, Religion and Culture, Routledge Journals, 2011). She has taught at University College London, University of Komotini, University of Crete and University of Zaragoza. She presently also teaches for the Hellenic Open University.
 

Link to papers published on academia.edu:  https://eap.academia.edu/DespinaIosif
Read her full CV

Peggy Myresiotou

Vice President of Administration

Peggy Myresiotou was born in Athens. After studying business administration and travel & tourism, she worked as an accredited travel agent in New York City for 15 years. Returning to Greece in 1991, she served as Human Resources assistant for a U.S. multinational corporation and subsequently as assistant to the managing director of a Greek bank. Ms. Myresiotou joined CYA in November 2003.

Popi Triantafyllidi

Strategic Planning Manager

Popi Triantafyllidou was born in Athens. She received her B.S. in Business Administration specializing in Management and Computer Programming. She joined College Year in Athens / DIKEMES in 2011, with over 20 years of experience in multinational environments.

Jennifer Holland (CYA '99)

Student Services

Jennifer Holland assists students at the front desk and organizes students` social activities and events. Born in New York, she is a CYA alumna. Ms. Holland joined the staff in 1999 and now lives in Athens with her daughter Anais. She is currently working on a Masters in counseling.

Evgenia Ghizas

Project Administrative Assistant

Anthi Papageorgiou

Staff Assistant

Anthi studied Mass Media and Communication at the National University of Athens. She worked for several years in polling companies as administrative assistant and as an editor of various news websites. Anthi joined CYA in 2013.

Giota Vouzna

Staff Assistant

Nadia Meliniotis

Executive Director of Student Affairs

Nadia Meliniotis is in charge of Student Affairs. After completing the German High School in Athens, she attended Wilkes University in Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations. She received her Master’s Degree at La Verne University (Athens branch) in Counseling Education/Education–Special Emphasis. Mrs. Meliniotis joined CYA in 1989 and deals with students’ welfare, concentrating on the interpersonal, social, cultural, emotional, spiritual, recreational, and health aspects.

Popi Baloglu

Director of Housing and Catering

Popi Baloglu supervises the dining room and is responsible for the general maintenance of the CYA apartments. A Greek who was born in Istanbul, Ms. Baloglu also lived in South Africa and the United States. She studied engineering drafting and worked as a draftsman for eight years. She came to Greece and joined CYA in 1988.

Kallia Alexandridi

Housing & Catering Assistant

Michalis Alexandridis

Maintenance

 

Vasso Matrakouka

Short Term Programs Coordinator

Vasso Matrakouka was born in Athens and studied travel and tourism. She also has  a B.A. in Human Communication from the University of Indianapolis. After working in tourism in Greece and Europe, Vasso joined CYA in 2011 where she is responsible for coordinating field trips and 3rd party customized programs.

Vassilis Karavassilis

Short Term Programs Assistant

Vassilis was born in New York, USA, and holds a degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management  from the Technological Institute of Thessaloniki.  He has experience in the travel and tourism industry working for tour operators and hotels. Before joining CYA in 2015 he worked for Delice Hotel Apartments where he held the position of reservations executive for 10 years.

Maria Malliou

Financial Officer

Maria Malliou joined the DIKEMES/CYA family in 1995 as an accountant and currently deals with financial affairs. She was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lived before her family moved to Athens. In 1996 Ms. Malliou received her B.A. from the Pireaus Technical Institute Accounting Department.

Vana Bica

Accountant

Vassilis Simopoulos

Development Officer

Vassilis Simopoulos was born and raised in Athens, Greece, but holds dual citizenship in Greece and the United States. He received a BA degree in Communication from the University of Southern California and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in Government from Harvard University. His professional interests focused in various service and non-profit organizations in the public as well as in the private sector when he served in the Hellenic Government first as a Special Advisor to the Secretary-General for Lifelong Learning and afterward as Head of Communications at the General Secretariat for Youth. In 2015 he returned to the private sector where he served as Project Manager for the non-profits Lascaris foundation and HOPEgenesis NPO.

Sofia Stavropoulou

Social Media Coordinator

Sofia Stavropoulou was born in Greece and studied Painting and Printmaking in Scotland, at the Glasgow School of Art. Sofia coordinates CYA’s social media outlets. As a part of the CYA MediaLab team, she is interested in sharing all the fantastic things that happen at CYA.

Tina Voulgari

Digital Content Coordinator

Tina holds a BA in Business Administration from the Technological Institute of Athens and an MA in Marketing Communications from Bournemouth University. She has worked in various B2B and B2C marketing positions in Greece and the UK. She has experience in digital marketing, event organizing and public relations.

Isabelle Bitman

Associate Director of Administration

Isabelle Bitman joined the CYA team in July 2018 after completing a year traveling and working in New Zealand. She is a strong advocate for study abroad and studied abroad for four semesters (in England, Italy, and South Africa) while completing her Bachelor’s degree. In 2015, Isabelle completed her Masters in International Educational Development with a focus in Higher Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. In her position as Associate Director of Administration, Isabelle is the primary study abroad liaison and university relations point-of-contact.

Alexia Lingaas

Campus Relations Manager

 Alexia Lingaas is a strong advocate for international education and studying abroad. While pursuing her Bachelor's in International Affairs at Northeastern University, Alexia had the opportunity to study abroad in Greece, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Morocco. Following her abroad experiences, Alexia pursued her Masters in International Higher Education also at Northeastern. She joined CYA in 2016 and is responsible for CYA's outreach efforts at US Colleges and Universities.

Grace Twardy

Senior Coordinator of Student Relations

Grace Twardy joined the CYA team at the Cambridge office in September 2017.  Grace advises students from the point they express interest in CYA until they depart for Greece, addressing issues related to: program inquiries; application procedures; visas; and pre-departure. She also provides support to our outreach efforts on U.S. campuses. Grace holds a Bachelor's in Global Studies & Spanish from Providence College and has studied abroad in Nicaragua, Tijuana, and Seville.

Hailey Lovett

Administrative Support Coordinator

Hailey Lovett joined the CYA North American team in May 2018. She graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. While pursuing her degree, she studied abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland focusing on international business. Upon returning, she joined Providence College's Global Ambassador program and worked in the Center for International Studies. Hailey has traveled throughout Ireland, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. She is excited to be a part of CYA students' study abroad experience and to be working with the CYA Ambassadors!

Erica Huffman (CYA '93)

Director of Alumni Relations

Erica Huffman (CYA ’93) is a native of Portland, OR, and graduated from Whitman College in 1995 with a degree in History. She has traveled to Australia, Fiji, American Samoa, Turkey, throughout Europe and the former USSR and has lived abroad in New Zealand, Guatemala, and Athens. She joined CYA staff in Athens in 1997 and later transferred to the North American Office where she has held several positions.  Currently she is Director of Alumni Relations and is responsible for the Class Agent Program, updating and tracking alumni information, the alumni newsletter THE OWL, reaching out to alumni and organizing alumni events.

Maria Marakas

Bursar and Manager of the North American Office

 

Adiya King

Campus Relations Representative

Adiya is a Wellesley alumna and spent her spring semester of 2017 studying abroad in Athens through CYA. Her bachelor’s degree is in English and Creative Writing but at the time of her travel, she was very interested in pursuing a minor in philosophy. While abroad, she took a philosophy course and two Greek literature courses and fell in love with Greek epics and tragedies. She was interested in becoming a campus representative for a few reasons but particularly because studying in Greece expounded her understanding of her own world, given that so much of American philosophy and ideology developed from the Greek history. CYA was particularly immersing for her because students were housed directly next door to Greek residents and Greek businesses. She quickly developed relationships with the Greeks in the area: she says both her neighbors and the owners of the local coffee shops graciously gave her as rich an education outside of the classroom as she received from within.

Cheyenne Paulson

Campus Relations Representative

Cheyenne is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan where she studied Classical Archeology and History of Art. She studied at CYA in the summer of 2015 where she took two classes: Excavating in the Aegean: The Case of Despotiko and When Egypt meets the Aegean: Interconnections in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. Her favorite memory of studying in Greece is the time she spent on the archaeology site, Despotiko, because of the bond she made with her classmates and professor Karavas. She is excited to be serving as a Campus Relations Representative this fall and influencing students to study abroad in Greece and understand what makes Greece the perfect place to study not only Classics, but also Contemporary subjects.

Kathryn Thamann

Campus Relations Representative

Kathryn recently graduated from Kalamazoo College, MI with a degree in chemistry/biochemistry and studied in Athens with CYA in Fall 2016. While abroad she enjoyed taking courses outside of the sciences, including archaeology, mythology/religion, and art history. Her favorite experiences with CYA were the on-site classes, the study-travel trips across Greece, and participating in the Athens' Authentic Marathon. She's excited to represent CYA and encourage other students to explore all of the possibilities that Athens has to offer.