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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Alumni
HAU First Alumni Association
Reunion
+ pg 3
Association
ISSUE 01
|
SPRING
May 17th, 2013
|
YEAR 2013
Alumni in focus:
Emmanouil Lagouros, Microsoft
+ pg 3
Benefits of HAU Alumni Association
memberships
+ pg 2
Lifelong learning opportunities:
seminars Spring - Fall 2013 + pg 4
Editorial
Welcome note
by Leonidas Phoebus Koskos, President
Hellenic American University has graduated over 250 alumni and
alumnae to date, and you are part of this remarkable network of
young men and women. We are proud of you and believe that you and
your fellow alumni will accomplish remarkable things in your life and
your community.
As President of the University and the person responsible for communicating the alumni’s needs and feedback to the other constituencies
of the University and particularly to the Board of Trustees, I applaud
this initiative to establish the Hellenic American University Alumni
Association. I also congratulate the Association on the first issue of the
Alumni Association Newsletter. I am confident that the Newsletter will
be a very useful medium for facilitating communication about the
activities of both the alumni and the University community in general.
I look forward to working with the Association in ensuring the alumni’s
voice is heard and its needs taken into consideration. I also rely on the
Association, and on your own efforts, too, in making the University’s
mission and programs better known in your own community and
among potential students.
One of the comments we consistently heard from representatives of
our regulatory and accrediting bodies during their visits to the University was the enthusiasm and commitment to the University that they
saw among our students. I hope that you will continue to be engaged
with the University in the years ahead. The Alumni Association is an
excellent way to do so, and I hope that you will decide to take an
active part in its work and activities.
by Nikos Papagiannopoulos
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the first newsletter of the
Alumni Association of the Hellenic American University. This newsletter is a joint effort of the Board of the Alumni Association and the
University and is part of the initiatives we are taking to create a strong
Alumni Association. It will be one of our main channels of communication with you and we hope that you will embrace it.
There are now more than 250 Hellenic American University alumni.
We felt that there should be a way for the members of this growing
community of graduates to be able to network with one another and
to remain in touch with the University, We thought it was also important for the University to have a means to communicate with its
alumni about the services and benefits it offers its graduates. Forging
such a link would provide the University with a better sense of what
its alumni are doing and thus support the University’s efforts to raise
awareness of its programs. Details regarding the benefits alumni
members enjoy can be found in the newsletter.
One of the motives for creating the Association is that many of the
HAU’s graduates are currently working at companies in Greece that
represent an important, dynamic part of the Greek economy. It would
be highly beneficial – especially during these difficult economic and
social times - if these graduates could network through a structured
framework such the Alumni.
This is a key part of the Association’s role and we hope that you will
embrace it, because its success is directly related to your support and
contribution.
On behalf of the Board of the Alumni Association, I welcome you
and invite you to join us in this journey.
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Affiliation with the
Association of Greek
Alumni of American
Universities
The Alumni Association of Hellenic American
University proudly announces its cooperation
with the Greek Alumni of American Universities (GAAU). Established in 1952, the
association numbers 850 members, among
them eminent scientists, political figures,
intellectuals and business persons.The
honorary president of GAUU is Senator
Michael Dukakis, who ran for president of the
United States in 1988. The association offers
scholarships to distinguished students in
need of financial aid to pursue their studies
in the States.
As a member of the Hellenic American
University Alumni Association you can join
the GAAU by filling in a membership form
that the Alumni Affairs Department can send
you upon request.
The GAAU has a monthly calendar of events,
where significant personalities from Greece
and the USA are invited. During the many
years of GAAU presence some of the guests
were Neil Armstrong, Senator Michael
Dukakis, Giorgos Seferis, and Eleni GlykatziAhrweiler, president of the University of Paris
1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.
For more information, click here:
http://www.gaau.gr/
Benefits
Members of the Alumni Association of Hellenic American University enjoy the following
benefits:
• Lifelong borrowing privileges for the Library
o Use your Alumni Card to borrow material from the Library. We’ll be informing you
shortly on how to acquire the card.
• Access to the Library’s periodicals, databases and digital books
o Alumni can use the library’s periodicals databases onsite at the university. Alumni can
also search the library’s resources online from their home computer and ask the library
to send the article to them.
o The Library also offers an Inter Library Loan Service (ILL) through which alumni can
request, free of charge, information resources (mainly journal articles) that are not
held by the Hellenic American University Library through associated libraries around
the world.
o Articles can be used only for personal or academic purposes. The librarian can also
help alumni in their academic and professional research.
• Discounts on tuition fees for lifelong learning seminars
o Alumni are entitled to discounts on seminars organized by HAEC and the Hellenic
American Union. We’ll keep you informed of these seminars. If you’re interested in
attending one, you’ll need to contact Ms. Kapetanakou and book your participation
(places are limited and offered on a first come-first served basis).
• Discounts on continuing professional education courses
o A number of University courses will be available to alumni every semester on a
first-come, first-served basis. Upon successful completion of the course, you’ll be
issued a certificate of attendance. Requests should be made to Ms. Kapetanakou. You
will be notified of available courses and registration procedures.
• Access to services offered by the Hellenic American University Counseling Center
o Hellenic American University's Counseling Center offers counseling services to
students, faculty, staff, and alumni, free of charge. These services include psychological assessment, career counseling, individual and group therapy, and workshops and
seminars.
Please Take Our Alumni Survey
We can help our members more effectively if we have a clearer picture of what you’ve done
since graduation and what you’re doing now professionally – or plan to do. We’ve created a
short alumni survey, which you will find at the alumni portal at:
https://mailhauedu.sharepoint.com/alumni/
You use your university email ([email protected]) and email password to log in and
take the survey. Alumni who don’t have a university’s email will receive an email from us shortly
with their new account and password. In the portal you’ll also see a document (Alumni Survey
Instructions) with a set of easy instructions on how to complete the survey.
Hellenic American University’s First Alumni Association Reunion
On March 27th, Hellenic American University graduates attended the first reunion
organized by the University’s Alumni
Association. The event began with a
welcome speech by Mr. Nikos Papagiannopoulos, President of the Alumni
Association, who informed alumni about
the association and its plans for the future.
The evening’s guest speaker, Mr. Kostis
Stavropoulos, Managing Director of
iSquare, then gave a talk titled “The Future
is Here” in which he discussed the rapid
growth of smart phones and tablets, and
the possible obsolescence of the home PC.
The first half of the event concluded with
closing remarks by Mr. Koskos, President of
Hellenic American University. The second
half of the event featured a party with food
and drinks, which afforded alumni the
chance to catch up with former classmates.
Organizers of the event were encouraged
by the number of alumni who attended the
event and by the interest that many of the
guests express in taking a more active role
in the Association.
Alumni in focus: Emmanouil Lagouros, Microsoft
I’ve had a passion with computers since I was in high school. Personal computers had just
started to become available at affordable prices. IBM had launched the PC and Apple a line of
computers such as Lisa that had a graphical user interface.
It was around this time I was asked to play a game of Othello against a “Grundy New Brain”.
I lost. Several times.
I wanted to understand why I had I lost. Was it some lack of intelligence on my part? I was
then presented with the magic instructions, the BASIC source code that ran Othello. For me
that was the defining moment when I realized what I wanted to do with my life.
I enrolled at Schiller University in the UK where I earned my undergraduate degree in 1987.
Upon my return to Greece and following a number of entrepreneurial ventures that didn’t
quite work out, I joined Quest as a networking engineer and later was promoted to production and product manager.
However, I was still interested in working in the software industry, a move that finally
happened when Microsoft Hellas hired me to join an international group that was working
with a Redmond development team to localize Windows & Office applications. It was a terrific
opportunity to be involved in a project of this scale and indeed from the beginning to the
release-to-manufacturing of the Greek version, and then for the sign off for the product to
ship to the local market. For my contribution to this and other projects I was recognized with
two Bill Gates Ship It Awards and a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal for work that
enabled scholars to be able to use Ancient Greek in Windows & Office.
Later I joined the Greek subsidiary and was responsible for leading the Enterprise Customer
Presales group, which is responsible for sharing Microsoft’s vision and roadmap with customers, and then as the lead for the Server and Tools Business Group. For my efforts I received
the CSI award which was given to me by Microsoft Chief Operating Office Kevin Johnson
In 2006 it was obvious to me that I needed to develop my skills and I was fortunate enough
to be accepted by HAU where I managed to graduate with a Professional MBA degree.
The knowledge I acquired especially in the areas of Business Management & HR
helped me develop my career in the area of Sales
Management and move on to Central and
European Headquarters as a Sales
Excellence lead responsible for
15 countries.
3
4
Hellenic American
University Alumni
Association Mission
Statement
The Hellenic American University Alumni
Association has a mission to build lifelong
relationships among its graduates and the
University. The Alumni Association will act as
a means through which HAU graduates can
contribute their knowledge and experience,
as well as the perspective and understanding
of best practices that they have gained in
their professional lives, to further the goals
of the University. The Alumni Associate will
also facilitate networking among its
members and between alumni and the other
University constituencies with the aim of
fostering the exchange of knowledge, expertise and career opportunities for the benefit
of the entire University community.
Lifelong learning opportunities
Continuous Education
Hellenic American University courses will be
available to Alumni as a continuous education
benefit throughout the academic year. Alumni
will be able to attend courses to broaden their
knowledge of their field or investigate further
a special topic of their interest.
Dr. Flouris, Provost
A number of places have been reserved for alumni for the following learning opportunities. If you are interested in any of the following, please contact Ms. Kapetanakou of
Office Alumni Affairs, at [email protected] or [email protected], or by
phone at 2103680093.
Managing change in your personal and
professional life (offered in Greek)
Friday, May 24, 2013
This seminar will help you assess the changes you experience daily in your personal and
professional life, and to help you handle these changes in a positive way, using
techniques such as self-observation and empathy. Three places have been made
available for alumni on a first–come, first-serve basis.
Editorial team
Alumni Association Board members:
• Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos,
President
• Lara Mourad, Secretary
• Katerina Hassapi, Member
• Efi Memtsa, Member
• Maria Salteri, Member
• Eri Kapetanakou, Office of Alumni
Affairs
Contact info
Eri Kapetanakou, Project Manager/
Development & Alumni Affairs
T: +30 210 3680093
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact hours:
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
from 09.00 to 15.00
8th International Athens Conference on
Project Management – Best Practices
Monday, June 17, 2013
The International Athens Conference on Project Management Best Practices (held every
summer in Athens), features a variety of 3- to 4-hour training sessions in current project
management trends, tools, techniques and methodologies. The event will be enriched
with keynote sessions presenting case studies from medium- to large-scale international
projects. This year, two of our alumni, on a first-come, first-serve basis, will have the
opportunity to attend this international event, which this year will focus on New Trends
and Advanced Project Management.
Improving Writing Skills
Fall 2013
Seminar sponsored by the Writing Center specifically for alumni with a Business and/or
IT background