In a moving stewardship ceremony, the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award Benefactors met with scholarship recipients from PIERCE, DEREE, and ALBA, and were bestowed with certificates of appreciation at the Ag Paraskevi campus on April 22.

ACG faculty, staff, students, scholarship recipients, their parents, and alumni came together to honor more than 80 benefactors who made 15 invaluable scholarships possible for ACG students, through their contributions and commitment to excellence.

ACG President David G. Horner welcomed all to the 7th level auditorium on the DEREE campus, describing the 2014 Alumni Achievement Awards (AAA) held in September as “very memorable,” honoring the outstanding contributions of ten acclaimed alumni from PIERCE, DEREE, and ALBA, an outstanding individual, and a renowned foundation for their service in a celebratory night at the packed, open-air Irene Bailey Theater.

“We enter again tonight into the AAA spirit,” Dr Horner noted, adding his appreciation for “the more than 80 benefactors with whose support the AAA event achieved both its purposes: not only to honor alumni, but to also raise funds to help deserving students of PIERCE, DEREE, and ALBA,” while he described the 15 ACG scholarship recipients as “future alumni and, possibly, future alumni award recipients as well.”

Dr Horner noted that he was pleased to see at the stewardship event AAA award recipient Ourania Kli Efremoglou (PIERCE UPPER ‘52, ‘54) – President of the Foundation of the Hellenic World – who won the ACG 2014 Philanthropy and Community Service Award, and “stole the show” with her acceptance speech in September, repeating the motto of PIERCE – Non ministrari sed ministrare (Not to be served, but to serve), and saying “I’ve done my duty, nothing more,” to wide applause. Dr Horner also welcomed Alexandra Pitta-Chazapi (PIERCE ’67) – Board of Directors Member and Managing Director of Attiki Bee Culturing Co & Alexandros Pittas SA – congratulating her once more for winning one of three ACG AAA 2014 Business awards.

President Horner also welcomed members of ACG’s Board of Trustees – Lena Triantogianni (PIERCE ’84 – DEREE ’89), Partner, Egon Zehnder International, and Alexander Macridis, CEO of Chryssafidis SA – as well as sculptress Athena Politopoulou-Kargsten (PIERCE UPPER ‘56 and ‘57), who created the beautiful award statue ‘Anatasi’ for the 2014 Alumni Achievement Awards, and AAA Taste of Excellence Curator Christos Sokolis.

The ACG President said the inspiring 2014 Alumni Achievement Awards, which were attended by over 600 people, raised €92,880, and €16,000 in-kind to offset costs, while total scholarships amounted to nine half tuition scholarships (9 x 50%) and six quarter tuition scholarships (6 x 25%) spread across PIERCE, DEREE, and ALBA.

Scholarships went to five students at PIERCE, five at DEREE and five at ALBA, while 169 young alumni and current scholarship recipients were able to attend the AAA event, which attracted a lot of media coverage, locally and internationally, showcasing ACG’s key role in offering educational opportunities to the next generation of achievers and creating a true sense of pride, Dr Horner said, adding, “it was a great evening! We remember it with great affection.”

President Horner and ACG’s Executive Director of Development Mary-Irene Triantafillou (DEREE ’89) then welcomed all the benefactors, their representatives, as well as the scholarship recipients onto the stage to receive their certificates.

“It is critical for us, in Greece, to invest in talented youth and ensure that they receive the development required to ultimately assume leadership roles in our country,” says Jenny Tsimiklis, Human Resources Director at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Greece.

“GSK is committed to supporting the development and advancement of young Greek people who have the passion, drive and aspiration to develop world-class skills and competencies required of the next generation of future leaders in Greece,” Ms Tsimiklis says, adding “We are therefore delighted to support programs like the Global Young Leaders Conference – which clearly provide an excellent learning journey in this direction – and to also provide scholarships to deserving students at The American College of Greece.”

“The scholarship award has given me the opportunity to continue my studies and to enhance my intellectual ability to perform much better than I have already done,” said DEREE communication student Amanda Sevi (expected to graduate in 2015), whose scholarship is one of two funded by the Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company.

Dr Horner also acknowledged other Benefactors, including Scholarship Student Benefactors, ACG Young Alumni Benefactors, Communication Benefactors, Supporting Excellence Program Benefactors and Annual Benefactors, and added that alumni award winner Athena Andreadis (PIERCE ’73), Professor in Cell Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School  (2014 ACG Sciences Award), whose father had accepted the award on her behalf in September in a moving speech in Greek, received the award in March in Boston, where she repeated the moving acceptance speech in English.

Dr Horner concluded with “Thank you so much for making great things happen for great students. We are very grateful for all that you do to support the school and in helping them.”

Also attending the event were PIERCE Gymnasium and Lyceum fifteen-member student councils’ representatives, DEREE student government representatives, as well as key ACG AAA Team administration staff who assisted with 2014 Alumni Achievement Award events – including Development and Alumni Relations, Events, Integrated Marketing and Communications, Technical staff, Operations, and Security.

Following the award ceremony a reception followed, where scholars and benefactors had the opportunity to get to know each other.

2014 Alumni Achievement Awards Gold, Silver and Bronze Benefactors:


Gold Benefactor (2 benefactors provided 2 X 50% tuition scholarships each)

1. Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Accepting the certificate was Angelica Petrouba, Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company Public Affairs & Communications Director

• CCHBC Scholar 1: Stefanos Lamprou, PIERCE, 2015-B Lyceum
• CCHBC Scholar 2: Amanda Sevi, DEREE student, expected to graduate in 2015, with a  major in Communication

2. National Bank of Greece

• NBG Scholar 1: Foteini Kitsiou, PIERCE, 2015-C Lyceum
• NBG Scholar 2: Sophi Midya, ALBA student expected to graduate in 2015, with an MSc degree in International Business & Management


Silver (5 benefactors provided a 50% tuition scholarship each)

1. Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”

Accepting the certificate was Yiannis Paraschis, Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” Managing Director

• AIAEV Scholar: Ioannis Papoutsis, ALBA student expected to graduate in 2015, and is studying under The ALBA MBA program

2. Espresso-Dimello Accepting the certificate was Lila Sideromenou, Espresso-Dimello Public Relations Coordinator

• Espresso-Dimello Scholar: Konstantina Papadopoulou, ALBA student expected to graduate in 2015, who is pursuing her MSc In Marketing

3. The Libra Group

Accepting the certificate was Siobhan Owens, the Libra Group Educational Programs Officer

• The Libra Group Scholar: Antonios Kalogeropoulos, DEREE student expected to graduate in 2015 with a major in Information Technology

4. MacArthur Capital

Accepting the certificate was Anthony Contomichalos (DEREE ’81), MacArthur Capital President,

• MacArthur Capital Scholar: Georgios Matopoulos, DEREE student expected to graduate in 2015 with a major in Psychology

5. Chryssafides SA

Alexander Macridis, Managing Director, Chryssafides SA, and ACG Trustee

• Alexander Macridis Scholar: Eleftheria Moustaka, PIERCE 2015-A Lyceum


Bronze (6 benefactors provided a 25% tuition scholarship each)

1. Balian Techniki,

Accepting the certificate was Loukianos Tiktopoulos, Partner at Balian Techniki

• Balian Techniki Scholar: Eirini-Nefeli Christodoulou, PIERCE, 2015- B Gymnasium

2. The Behrakis Foundation

• The Behrakis Foundation Scholar: Konstantinos Kollias, DEREE student expected to graduate in 2015 with a major in Information Technology

3. EYDAP

• EYDAP Scholar: Evangelos Bonoris, ALBA student expected to graduate in 2015 with an MSc in Finance

4. Glaxo Smith Kline

Accepting the certificate was Jenny Tsimiklis, Human Resources Director at GSK, Glaxo Smith Kline, Greece

• GSK Scholar: Anastasia Melnychuk, DEREE student expected to graduate in 2015 with a major in Communication

5. Dimitris Lyparakis Insulation Company

Accepting the certificate was Dimitris Lyparakis, from Dimitris Lyparakis Insulation Company

• Dimitris Lyparakis Insulation Company Scholar: Karolina Kedra, ALBA student expected to graduate in 2015 with an MBA in Shipping

6. I. & S. Sklavenitis Accepting the certificate was Sylvia Liosi (DEREE 2007), Sklavenitis Head of Sponsorships, Public Relations Department

• Sklavenitis Scholar: Georgia Kiourani, PIERCE 2015 – B Gymnasium

Learn about the 2014 Alumni Achievement Awards here