Professor Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou

Χαιρετισμός του Αντιπρύτανη, Καθηγητή Αλεξάνδρου Χατζηγεωργίου

Dear colleagues, students and friends,

Welcome to the 5th International Conference on Hellenic Diaspora!

I am Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou and I serve as Vice Rector of Extroversion and International Relations at the University of Macedonia, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
As one of the co-organizing Universities, along with Charles Darwin University and the University of the Aegean, we are really glad that this great cross-academic collaboration keeps bringing people and ideas together in meaningful ways. We are grateful to Professor Frazis for his meticulous efforts to sustain this important initiative.

The relations between diaspora communities and Greece, Greek language education, the study of cultural heritage, cross-cultural exchange and the Greek presence in countries such as Australia, Europe and Africa, are all topics that are not only worthy of academic study, but also essential dimensions of today’s globalized education. In turbulent times like the ones we are -unfortunately- experiencing these days, it is particularly important to maintain and strengthen our connections with the diaspora. Strong human ties serve as the only viable response to increasing aggressiveness and hostility. Our national poet Dionysios Solomos once said: “The nation must learn to consider as its homeland not only the land it inhabits, but also the soul it carries.” signifying the importance of Greek identity beyond borders. I am really glad that this academic gathering promotes meaningful dialogue on Greek identity beyond borders and across generations.

Thank you, and wishing you all a very successful conference.

Biographical note

Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou is a Professor of Software Engineering and Object-Oriented Design in the Department of Applied Informatics at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece. Since 2023, he has served as Vice Rector of Extroversion and International Relations. From 2017 to 2023 he served as Dean of the School of Information Sciences. He received a Diploma in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1996 and 2000, respectively. From 1997 to 1999 he worked as a telecommunications systems software designer at Intracom S.A. From 2007 to 2017 he was a member of the teaching staff at the Hellenic Open University. His research interests include software maintenance and technical debt, software evolution analysis and empirical studies in software engineering. He has participated as Research Coordinator or member of the University of Macedonia in 5 European Research Programs and more than 10 national research programs. He is a senior associate editor for the Journal of Systems and Software and an associate editor for the ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology.

Professor Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou, Vice Rector of Extroversion and Internationa Relations, University of Macedonia