Local Greek Community Supports Greek
History Department's Ambition to be Nation's Best

By Karen Gajewski I September 26, 2005

Left, Georgios H. Anagnostopoulos, a UC San Diego philosophy professor and most recently interim dean of the university's Division of Arts and Humanities. Right, Carol Vassiliadis, who presented a leadership gift for the university's Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Chair in Byzantine Greek History.

Thanks to the generosity of the local Greek community, a philosophy professor's dream of UCSD becoming the nation's leader in Greek studies is nearly a reality.

With two new endowed faculty chairs - and fund raising under way for a third chair - the campus will soon become the only American university to have faculty chairs for all three major eras of Greek history.

"Many universities own a chair somewhere in the field of Greek history," said Daniel Vickers, chair of the UCSD History Department, "but, nowhere in America will there be a concentration of eminent historians in one department to match ours."

The key driver behind the establishment of the endowed Greek history chairs is Georgios Anagnostopoulos, philosophy professor and most recently interim dean of UCSD's Division of Arts and Humanities.

"The active and very generous Greek community in San Diego is providing UCSD powerful tools to attract and retain distinguished faculty in Greek History. We are most grateful to them for their support," said Anagnostopoulos.

UCSD's new endowed chairs will cover:

. Ancient Greek history from circa 800 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great, circa 300 B.C.

. More than 1,000 years of the history of the Byzantine Empire, from circa 324 A.D. to 1453 A.D.

. The last 200 years of Greek history, from circa 1800 A.D. to the present.

This period is one of the richest, most tumultuous and, at times, most tragic periods of Greek history. The campus recently created the Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas Chair in Ancient Greek History and the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Chair in Byzantine Greek History with donations totaling more than $1 million. Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas and Carol Vassiliadis each presented leadership gifts for the two UCSD endowed faculty chairs, while contributions from members of San Diego's Greek community and cultural organizations provided the remainder of the funding. With funding nearly complete, UCSD also expects to establish the endowed chair in Modern Greek History. Money raised for the UCSD Greek History chairs contribute to UCSD's $1 billion fund-raising initiative, The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What's Next.