For a program that offered its first courses only six years ago, Hellenic Studies has made admirable strides.  A gift of $80,000.00 inaugurated the program which now has an endowment of approximately $500,000.00.  In other words we are half way toward our immediate goal of $1,000.000.00 that would allow the program to have an appointment dedicated to Hellenic Studies.

A major addition to the Program was a recent gift from Dr. Nick and Nancy Vidalakis who laid the foundations for the Dr. Nick and Nancy Vidalakis Family Professor of Culture, Excellence, and Spirituality in Hellenic Studies.  The Vidalakis family has pledged and is contributing $167,000.00 while the University of Washington contributed $83,000.00 for a total of $250,000.00.  When fully funded, the professorship will be an endowment, consisting of a minimum amount of $250,000.00.  The annual proceeds from this endowment will then be used forever to support the work in Hellenic studies of an already existing professor.

The family of Gust Rakus has generously enhanced the Program’s physical resources in honor of Gust who moved from Greece to the Seattle area where he became a committed teacher and member of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).  Many of his papers, photographs, and AHEPA materials will be the start of a Hellenic-American collection in the University of Washington Libraries .  In addition, the family has made funds available for several essential aspects of teaching and research in Hellenic studies:  to add to the Library materials in the area of modern Greek studies; to support prizes to be awarded to students researching aspects of Hellenic studies; and to further collaboration with other institutions who have significant Hellenic collections by establishing a Hellenic Studies web site which will provide links with other major collections.  Finally, the members of the family understand that collecting, cataloguing, and designing web sites and links involve time and, consequently, they are assigning funds for the maintenance of the collection as it grows.  Thus, in addition to the Hellenic Studies Endowment Fund, we now have a Rakus Hellenic Fund.

Three years ago the Greek Ministry of Education made a gift of 120,000 Euros (ca. $150,000) to the Hellenic Studies endowment fund.  Last year we received another 25,000 Euros (ca. $30,000) are in autumn 2006 learned that the remaining 5,000 Euros has been authorized.

As of autumn 2006, the Greek Ministry of Education has enhanced our program in another extremely important way by funding an appointment of an instructor of Modern Greek language over several years.  Paraskevi Delikari, a graduate of the University of Athens and recipient of her doctorate in an interdisciplinary program of the Early Children Education Department of the University of Athens and the Institute of Education at the University of London joined our Program.

Hellenic Studies has been aided by many private gifts from dedicated individual Hellenes and phil-Hellenes as well as organizations such as AHEPA, the Sons of Perikles, and the Maids of Athena.

Our program offerings have been enhanced by a grant from the Onassis foundation of $75,000 to support a course in modern Greek culture in each of the past six years.  To date the Visiting Onassis Professors have included Theofanis Stavrou, from the University of Minnesota, who facilitated the creation of the Greek history course; Constantine Christofides, currently at the Institute for American universities at Aix-en-Provence, who offered a course in Modern Greek Poetry; Nikos Hadjinikolaou, University of Crete, who explored Modern Greek Art; Theo Antikas, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, who presented two courses focusing on the history and significance of the Olympic Games.  Last year, Thanassis Maskaleris, Kazantzakis Professor Emeritus of San Francisco State University , taught a course that dealt with Modern Greek Literature. In winter term 2007, Virginia Voulgaris offered "Opera in Greece: From Orpheus to Theodorakis."

Modern Greek language instruction has been expanded by special funding from the Greek Ministry of Education in the form of an appointment over several years.  [See “Achievements.”  In addition to our Study Abroad program affiliated with the University of Ioannina , Dr. Taso Lagos in the School of Communication has inaugurated another Greek study abroad program through the Athens Leadership Seminar.  It is linked with Hellenic Studies.

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