University of Balamand delegation visits the University of Athens

On Monday, 5 May 2025, Professor Sophia Papaioannou, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, International Relations, and Extroversion, and Professor Christos Karagiannis, Vice-Rector for Administrative Affairs, Student Welfare, and Lifelong Learning, received at the Rector’s Office of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens a delegation from the University of Balamand in Lebanon, consisting of President Dr Elias Warrak, Vice-President Dr Salim Kanaan, and Dean at St John of Damascus Institute of Theology Right Reverend Archimandrite Jack Khalil. Participating in the meeting were, on the part of the University of Athens, Professor Achilleas Chaldaeakes, Member of the Administration Council, Professor Pagona Lagiou, Dean of the School of Health Sciences, Professor Nikolaos Arkadopoulos, Chair of the School of Medicine, and Dr Eleni Vasilopoulou, the University’s Executive Director. Expert Counsellor at the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms Dora Gota, was also in attendance.

The Vice-Rectors welcomed the delegation and gave an overview of our University, focusing on its global rankings. The President of the University of Balamand followed with a presentation and spoke, among other things, about his Institution’s considerable impact on the development of the wider region.

Dean, Professor Lagiou, and Chair, Professor Arkadopoulos, made special reference to the history and development of the School of Medicine of the University of Athens as well as to the Medical Degree English Program, the School’s research projects, the University Hospitals, and the University Clinical Departments operating in hospitals across Attica. Dr Elias Warrak, in turn, informed the participants about medical studies in Lebanon in general and the University of Balamand in particular. In addition to the interest in the English-taught Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes of our University’s School of Medicine, and given that St John of Damascus Institute is one of only four Theological Schools in the world that teaches Greek, as its Dean emphasized, the participants expressed their desire during the discussions to foster collaboration in the field of Theology, as well as in Greek language, Social Sciences, Shipping, and Artificial Intelligence.

Finally, the two sides committed to making every possible effort to strengthen academic ties between their respective Institutions and proceed with a Memorandum of Understanding, along with specific agreements in each scientific field.