Greeks Who Have Left Their Mark On 2015

2015 was a tough year for Greece, but these Greeks managed to distinguish themselves and excel in their professional fields as well as inspire others to continue fighting for their ideals.  Here we present to you the 10 Greeks that left their mark in 2015:

Paul Alivisatos is considered one of the fathers of nanoscience for his ground-breaking research in quantum dots and other artificial nanostructures. In 2015 he was chosen as the recipient of the National Medal of Science by President Obama, America's highest honor for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research.  The Greek-American is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and an award-winning chemist.  He has been internationally recognized as an authority ont he fabrication of nanocrystals and their use in solar energy applications. Alivisatos, 56, holds appointments with the University of California Berkeley as the Samsung Distinguished Chair in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.  He is also a scientific founder of two prominent nanotechnology companies; Nanosys and Quantum Dot Corp.

Although John Calamos is known as a financial guru and the CEO and Chairman of the Calamos Investments, the Greek-American from Chicago made sure to bring to the U.S. the largest ever Ancient Greek exhibition in 2015.  Calamos became the biggest benefactor of the exhibit 'The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" to the United States. The exhibit, presented at the Field Museum of Chicago in collaboration with the National Hellenic Museum, offers the chance to see up close more than 500 artifacts from Ancient Greece.  Calamos is also the biggest donor and Chairman of the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago and countess other organisations that promote Hellenism.

The Greek photojournalist was praised for his coverage of two of the biggest stories of 2015, Europe's Refugee Crisis and the Financial Implosion in his home country.  The Guardian named him its photographer of the year and his photos made it to the covers of some of the world's most important media outlets.  Born in 1960, Behrakis studied photography at the Athens School of Arts and Technology and London's Middlesex University.  He has covered various significant events such as the Libya Crisis in 1989, the funeral of the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as well as the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosova, Chechyna, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Angeliki Pappa is an eductator that has taught more than 800 students with special educational needs and trained about 1,500 teacher to use her own unique teaching methods.  In 2015 she was included in the list of 50 nominees for hte Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Award for her work on dyslexia for the prize on one million dollars, also widely known as the Nobel Prize of teaching.  The top 50 candidates were selected from 8,000 entries and applications submitted from 148 countries around the world.  The winner will be announced at the Global Education & Skills Forum, to be held in March 2016 in Dubai.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter