Peter Vlachos Receives 2017 Oxi Day Jaharis Service Award

Foundation Executive Director Mike Manatos, a member of Leadership 100 Executive Committee, Ji Seong-ho, Jaharis Service Award recipient Peter Vlachos, US Ambassador of Greece to the US Haris Lalacos. Photo by Bill Petros.

Peter Vlachos, a longtime member of the Leadership 100 Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Investment Committee, was presented with the 2017 Jaharis Service Award during the 7th Annual Oxi Day Celebration in Washington, DC at the National World War II Memorial on October 26, 2017.

The Jaharis Service Award recognizes an individual for dedicated service during the Korean War as well as his or her contributions, in the spirit of Michael Jaharis, to the Greek-American Community, the United States and to the world. Vlachos joins last year’s distinguished recipient John Payiavlas, Chairman Emeritus of Leadership 100, the first ever to receive this award. Jaharis was a noted philanthropist and a pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry who was a Founder of Leadership 100.

Peter Austin Vlachos served during the Korean War in the 93rd Bomb Wing of the Air Force Strategic Air Command and flew with the 328th Bomb Squadron as a radar bombing and navigational technician.

After the war, he graduated from Colby College in Waterville, Maine in 1958. He worked on Wall Street at Amott, the Dreyfus Corporation and Neuberger Berman and in 1989 founded Austin Investment Management, Inc. In 2016, Vlachos helped establish and joined Adalta Capital Management LLC where he is a Managing Director.

Over his career, he has served many non-profit organizations in varying capacities. Vlachos has been a lifelong supporter of the arts, humanitarian causes and education, having served on the boards and investment committees of Colby College, Outward Bound, Scenic Hudson, Metropolitan Montessori School, HANAC, Inc., and The School for Strings. Vlachos’s commitment to good works and philanthropy includes serving on the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, as well as being Treasurer of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy & Hellenism and Vice President of the American Associates of the Saint Catherine Foundation

The Washington Oxi Day Foundation organizes the annual celebration of Oxi courage, past and present. The event took place in Washington, DC from October 25-27. At the Black-Tie Banquet and Award Presentation on October 26, North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho and leading voice against Islamist extremism Ayaan Hirsi Ali received the Oxi Courage Award for their David-vs-Goliath courage against the great evils of today, in the spirit of what the Greeks did in WWII.  Leading humanitarian Bruce Mosler received the Metropolitan Chrysostomos Award for his efforts to fight anti-Semitism and discrimination.

 Earlier in the day, at the National World War II Memorial, the Foundation honored a Greek, an American, and a Greek-American WWII veteran with its Greatest Generation Award: Greek-American George Possas, former US Senator Daniel Inouye and Eleftherios Smyrniotopoulos.

Activities began with a reception at the Greek Ambassador’s residence on October 25 and ended with a wreath laying ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on October 27 in honor of those who lost their lives in WWII when Greece said OXI to surrender.

The Washington Oxi Day Foundation is dedicated to informing American policymakers and the public about the profound role Greece played in bringing about the outcome of World War II and celebrating modern day heroes who exhibit the same courage as the Greeks did in continuing to fight to preserve and promote freedom and democracy around the world.