In a ceremony reflecting academic continuity and excellence, the University of Athens conferred the title of Honorary Professor on Academician and Professor Emeritus of the School of Law, Paul Sourlas, on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, in the Great Hall.
The event opened with a welcome address delivered by Professor Gerasimos Siasos, Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Professor Philippos Vasilogiannis from the School of Law then presented the honouree’s contributions and personal qualities.
Next, Professor Konstantinos Christodoulou, Dean of the School of Law, read aloud the official texts related to the conferment and presented the certificate, after which Professor Gerasimos Siasos handed Paul Sourlas an honorary plaque in recognition of his outstanding contributions.
The ceremony concluded with a speech by Professor Paul Sourlas titled ‘The Past and Future of Legal Science’.
In his address, Professor Gerasimos Siasos, highlighted, among other points:
‘Having advanced through all academic ranks, he was appointed Professor of the Philosophy of Law in 1990, a position he held until his retirement. His teaching continued uninterrupted beyond the end of his official tenure, particularly at the postgraduate level within the Interinstitutional Postgraduate Programme “Bioethics”.
His role at the School of Law proved pivotal. Professor Paul Sourlas was the first to systematically shape the modern face of the Philosophy of Law in Greece, acting with intellectual boldness and visionary insight. He created the institutional and scholarly framework that allowed the field to flourish, established the Laboratory of Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, and Ethics, and founded the journal “Isopoliteia” [Equal Citizenship], thus making a substantial contribution to the development of public philosophical discourse on issues of law and ethics’.
Photos: Dimitris Konstantinidis
