President of the Hellenic Republic H. E. Constantinos Stephanopoulos to Visit York University June 1 to Celebrate Connections, Make Major Announcement

TORONTO, May 26, 2000 -- The President of the Hellenic Republic His Excellency Constantinos Stephanopoulos will make a major announcement at York University June 1 as part of his state visit to Canada, the first for a Hellenic President in 18 years.

Stephanopoulos, who will be in Canada from May 27 to June 2, will speak at 10:50 a.m. at Osgoode Hall Law School, Moot Court (Room 101) on York's Keele Campus. His delegation will include the rectors of the University of Athens, the Polytechnic University of Athens, and the Athens University of Economics and Business. They will meet with York University President Lorna Marsden and senior representatives from Ontario universities prior to the announcement to discuss how to strengthen ties between Ontario and Greek universities. The Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for Greeks Abroad Angeliki Laiou and The Special Secretary for Higher Education in the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs Dionysios Kladis will also be at the event along with students, faculty, members of the Greek community, visiting dignitaries and officials from other universities.

"We are delighted that during his brief stint in Toronto, President Stephanopoulos is honouring us with a visit to York University where he will be able to see and sense first-hand the great potential for enriched academic collaborations and cultural exchanges between York University and Greece," said Marsden.

Marsden added that the connections between York and Greece are both personal and institutional. York, which has strong partnerships with the Athens University of Economics and Business and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, last year was chosen by Toronto's Hellenic Heritage Foundation to establish the city's first permanent chair and program in modern Hellenic studies. The chair will enrich the experience of York students, including the more than 1,000 students of Greek heritage enrolled each year, who want to study the Greek language, literature, history and culture and Greece's place in modern Europe. And on a personal note, Marsden noted that the former prime minister of Greece, Andreas Papandreou, father of Foreign Minister George Papandreou, taught Economics at York University in the early 70s. His daughter is a graduate student at York, and her son studied at York as well.

Stephanopoulos, a 74-year-old native of Patras, was elected President of the Hellenic Republic on March 8, 1995 following a long and successful political career. A graduate of the University of Athens, Stephanopoulos practiced law for a decade before winning election to the Greek Parliament in 1964 as a member of the National Radical Union Party from the region of Achaia. He was re-elected to the same position four times between 1974 and 1985, serving as Undersecretary for Commerce, Minister of Interior, Minister of Social Services, and Minister to the Prime Minister.

Stephanopoulos left the New Democracy Party in August, 1985, and founded the Democratic Renewal Party. Four years later, he was elected to Parliament with the Democratic Renewal Party, this time representing the Greater Athens region. In June 1994, after the elections for the European Parliament, he dissolved the Democratic Renewal Party and withdrew from politics until assuming his new position as President of the Hellenic Republic.

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For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Director, Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
sinem@yorku.ca
YU/057/00