Panhellenic Scholarships Awarded

The PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation awarded 25 of Greek America's "best and brightest" students a total of $250,000 in scholarship grants at an Awards Gala on November 15. Recipients received a Certificate and a check for $10,000 towards their higher education from the Foundation. 

In his charge to the 2008 Grant Award Recipients, Foundation Founder and Chairman Chris P. Tomaras, a long-time member of Leadership 100, told them: "This Foundation has a single mission: to promote education by which, you, the recipients of today, will be the contributors to American society of tomorrow. Use the eternal values that you received from your Hellenic upbringing to benefit yourselves, your families and this great nation."

Tomaras' charge was echoed by the Consul General of Greece in Chicago, Amb. Anastasios Petrovas, and taken up by Dimitri Fountas, one of the winners, selected to represent the 25 Grant Recipients, who expressed both their thanks and their gratitude to the Foundation.

This success caps off an unparalleled year for the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation, during which it received a record 215 applications from all over the U.S. The quality of the applicants was the highest ever with a large number showing GPAs of 4.0 and higher. Of these, 25 received the Grant Award of $10,000 each and a second tier of 15 received a Commendation Certificate. "Our goal is to offer cash awards to all deserving students. And we thank all th at have contributed to make this happen. We continue to rely on their assistance and hope they'll continue with their contributions and support," added Tomaras.

A second highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Foundation's annual Paradigm Award to world-renowned innovator in the space arena, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. He is the Chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, also of Zero Gravity Corporation and co-founder of Space Adventures, Ltd. Dr. Diamandis after the acceptance of the award he offered a powerful visual presentation with a focus on the grandiose mission of the X Prize Foundation offering prizes for breakthroughs that benefit humanity.

The 25 Scholarship Recipients are as follows:

Dakotah Apostolou, from Northampton, Massachusetts, attending Taliesin - Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture

Deborah Bouzeos, from Greenwood, Indiana, attending Wheaton College

Julian Chryssavgis, from Bath, Maine, attending Bowdoin College

Maria Cucuras, from Naperville, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

Dimitri Fountas, from Wood Dale, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

Christina Guliadis, from Fort Lee, New Jersey, attending The George Washington University

Noa Krugliak, from Chicago, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Chicago

Christianna Kyriacou, from Burbank, California, attending The University of Southern California

Nicholas Lillios, from Northbrook, Illinois, attending University of Wisconsin - Madison

Yanni Louloudis, from Fairfield, Connecticut, attending Northeastern University (Boston)

Gabrielle Mannino, from New Berlin, Wisconsin attending University of Wisconsin - Madison

William Menegas, from Palatine, Illinois, attending University of Chicago

Ypapanti Meris, from Campbell, Ohio, attending Youngstown State University

Stephanie Michael, from Potomac, Maryland, attending University of Maryland

Paulena Papagiannis, from Hyattsville, Maryland, attending Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music

Kostas Papamarkakis, from Springfield, Massachusetts, attending Northeastern University (Boston)

Ellie Proussaloglou, from Clarendon Hills, Illinois, attending Duke University

Alyssa-Marie Robidoux, from Natick, Massachusetts attending Bryant University

Margaret Roidi, from Ridgewood, New Jersey, attending Fairleigh Dickinson University

John Strzelecki, from Manchester, Missouri, attending Georgia Institute of Technology

Elisabet Tassis, from Potomac, Maryland, attending John Hopkins University

Peter Tselepatiotis, from Norridge, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Chicago

Christopher Tsoukalas, from Burbank, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

Paraskevas Xenophontos, from Ronkonkoma, New York, attending Stony Brook University

Peter Zervakis, from Darien, Illinois, attending University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign