2011 Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner

Advancing the Legacy

Megaron, The Athens Concert Hall

Saturday, April 2, 2011

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THANK YOU NOTE...

Dear fellow alumni,

I would like to express my sincere thank you to all those who attended our ACG Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner on April 2, 2011, at Megaron, The Athens Concert Hall, as well as all those who contacted us and/or bought tickets to support our cause, but couldn’t attend.

Our event was a resounding success as more than 520 alumni and friends of the College joined us and celebrated with us the 135^th anniversary since the founding of our School and honored with us Greek-American actor Melina Kanakaredes and our six prominent alumnae, professor Benaki, Professor Papalexandris, Ms. Lavida, Ms. Lianidou, Ms. Cubitt and Ms. Lymperopoulou! We keep receiving phone calls and e-mails from fellow alumni, colleagues and friends that attended congratulating us and telling us how proud they feel for our school. We all do! Most importantly, as a result of this event, € 10.000 will go towards our ACG Alumni Scholarship Fund!

A lot of people worked hard to prepare this very special event, most of them alumni. Words cannot express enough our gratitude to them for their valuable contribution to the success of it all. I would like to personally thank Ms. Athena Politopoulou-Kargsten for the beautiful statuette she created and offered to the College, Ms. Sofia Papaioannou, for kindly accepting to be our master of ceremonies and our fellow alumni artists for brightening our evening with their performances. We greatly appreciate the fact that all these people generously gave their time, energy and talent in support of their alma mater.

I would also like to thank the members of the Alumni Awards Committee for making a final selection of the honorees upon the recommendations of the ACG faculty and staff -it was definitely not an easy task-, the members of the Organizing Committee for their precious advice, their time, and all-time record number of tickets sold, our DEREE student ambassadors as well as many colleagues and my fellow team members of the Office of Alumni Relations & College Events for their hard work, dedication and team spirit!

To be continued… as our wonderful ACG video said.

Warm regards,

Claudia Carydis-Benopoulou (PIERCE ’81, DEREE ’84)

Executive Director of Alumni Relations & College Events

The American College of Greece

ACG Alumni: We Stay Connected!

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The American College of Greece Honors Actor Melina Kanakaredes and 6 Prominent Alumnae

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VIEW HERE A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE EVENT

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€10.000 FOR SCHOLARSHIPS RAISED AT THE 2011 ALUMNI AWARDS BENEFIT DINNER

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Award-winning actress Melina Kanakaredes received the 2011 ACG Heritage Award at The American College of Greece Alumni Benefit Awards Dinner before a sell-out audience of over 500 College alumni and friends at the Megaron, Athens Concert Hall on Saturday, April 2^nd.

Dr. S. Sue Horner, award-recipient Melina Kanakaredes and Dr. David G. Horner, President of the American College of Greece, on stage at the 2011 Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner of The American College of Greece. The event took place at the Athens Concert Hall.

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In her acceptance remarks, Kanakaredes, the star of CSI:NY spoke movingly of her roots, sharing an emotional testimony to the influence her Hellenic heritage and passion for education instilled by her parents have played throughout her life.

Kanakaredes was honored during the 2011 Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner of The American College of Greece. The College also honored six prominent women alumni, from business, the arts, academia and public life: Anna Benaki (former President of the Greek Parliament and member of the Academy of Athens), Eleni Cubitt (founder of the British Committee for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles), Vana Lavida (philanthropist and founder of MDA Hellas), Theano Lianidou (General Manager at Mars Italy), Nancy Papalexandri (professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business) and Maya Lymberopoulou (distinguished actor and director).

Former Parliament President and Academy of Athens member, Professor Anna Benaki, receives her award from ACG President, dr. David G. Horner, as ACG Chancellor John S. Bailey looks on.

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Deputy Minister of Education, Evi Christophilopoulou (left), a PIERCE alumna, with award-recipient Professor Nancy Papalexandri of the Athens University of Economics and Business, a DEREE alumna.

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Award-winner Vana Lavida with distinguished DEREE economics professor, Dr. Albert Arouh, who offered her the award.

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Theano Lianidou, holding her award, with HSBC Greece Managing Director & Head of Global Banking, Dimitris Politis, a fellow DEREE graduate.

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Professor Vassilios Kiortsis, cousin of honoree Eleni Cubitt, receives the award on her behalf from Aemilia Geroulanou, president of the Benaki Museum.

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In a moving speech, Dr. David D. Horner, president of The American College of Greece, noted that, “What began in a rented

room with seven pupils in Turkey has evolved into one of Greece’s premier private secondary schools and the largest and oldest US accredited institution of higher learning in Europe.”

President Horner also spoke about the increased emphasis ACG places on offering financial aid to students, in light of the global financial crisis that has impacted the Greek economy:

“Providing financial assistance to deserving students is an important part of ACG’s mission,” he said, adding that in the 2010-11 academic year alone more than €800,000 in scholarships and grants have been awarded to more than 220 ACG students – an increase of more than 52% over the previous year mandated by the economic crisis. The president noted that 20% of all financial aid funds come from gifts from alumni and friends of the College.

Dr. Horner also announced “The largest student scholarship gift in the history of The American College of Greece”, two fully endowed scholarships by prominent Greek business executive, Ms. IoannaArvanitis.

The 2011 Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner, raised €10,000 for the College’s Alumni Scholarship Fund, established in 2009.

The award statuettes were designed by noted sculptor Athena Politopoulou – Kargsten.

Celebrated investigative journalist and TV co-anchor, Sophia Papaioannou, a graduate of DEREE - The American College of Greece served as the evening’s master of ceremonies.

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THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Office of Alumni Relations & College Events: We Stay Connected!

Click here to see the ACG Alumni Awards Benefit Dinner 2011.

Click here to see the Photo Gallery from the 1st Alumni Gala Benefit Dinner.

Click here to learn more about the 1st Alumni Gala Benefit Dinner