On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at the Old Parliament Hall in Athens, His Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Konstantinos Tasoulas, presented the Excellence in University Teaching Award in memory of Vassilis Xanthopoulos and Stefanos Pnevmatikos to Professor and Rector of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Christina Koulouri.

The ceremony was opened by Emeritus Professor Maria Efthymiou, Chair of the Award Committee, while the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FORTH, Professor Vassilios Charmandaris, spoke about the history of the Award. The work of the honoree was presented by the Chair of the Award Committee, Maria Efthymiou. This was followed by a lecture by the awardee entitled:

“The University from the Blackboard to Artificial Intelligence: Reflecting on the Past, Shaping the Future.”

The Government was represented by the Deputy Minister of Education responsible for Higher Education, Nikos Papaioannou. Also present were the Secretary General for Coordination of the Presidency of the Government, Evi Dramaliti, and the Secretary General for Communication and Information, Dimitris Kirmikiroglou. PASOK/KINAL was represented by Panagiotis Vardas, Secretary for the Research and Technology Sector.

Among others attending the ceremony were MP of New Democracy Angelos Syrigos, MP of the New Left Sia Anagnostopoulou, the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General Demosthenis Grigoriadis, the Ambassador of France to Greece, Laurence Auer, as well as academics, numerous university rectors, presidents of research centers, university faculty members, and colleagues and students of Christina Koulouri.

This year marks 34 years since the establishment of the Excellence in University Teaching Award, the only institution in Greece that annually honors excellence and dedication in university teaching.

Honoring the teacher and researcher Christina Koulouri brings to mind the unforgettable professors of the University of Crete, Vassilis Xanthopoulos and Stefanos Pneumatikos—inspirational teachers and distinguished scientists—who were murdered on the evening of November 27, 1990, while teaching an advanced postgraduate seminar.

A few words about the awardee, Christina Koulouri

Christina Koulouri is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Rector of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. She studied at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Athens, at the University of the Sorbonne (Paris I), and at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, as a fellow of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), the George and Anna Sakellariou Foundation, and the Saripoleio Endowment of the University of Athens.

She has taught at the Universities of Crete, Thrace, and Peloponnese, at the Hellenic Open University, and at numerous universities abroad (Tokyo, Reading, Paris 1, Regensburg, Bologna). She has also served as a Visiting Researcher at the Sorbonne (Paris 1–UMR IRICE, 2010), Visiting Research Fellow at Princeton University (2017), and at the University of Regensburg (2019).

She has been awarded the Nikos Svoronos Award (1994), the “Delphi” Award of the International Olympic Academy (2012), and the Dimitrios Vikelas Award of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH, 2018).

Her publications include books and articles on history education, the formation of Greek national identity and historical memory, public history, and the history of sports and the Olympic Games. She has edited the English-language publication of six volumes of educational material for the teaching of history in all Balkan countries, which have been translated into Greek and ten other languages. Her book “Fustanellas and Chlamydes: Historical Memory and National Identity, 1821–1930” (2020) was honored with the State Essay Award and the Reader’s Award.

The event was live-streamed on the FORTH YouTube channel.

See also: Press Release of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic

For further information:

Kalliopi Mavrantoni

1. Xanthopoulos – S. Pnevmatikos Award Committee

Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH)

Tel.: +30 2810 391509

Email: kalliroi@admin.forth.gr