Dionysis Simopoulos

Dionysios P. Simopoulos
Born (1943-03-08) 8 March 1943
Ioannina, Greece
Residence Athens, Greece
Nationality Greek
Fields

Astrophysics

Science communication
Institutions

Eugenides Planetarium

LASC Planetarium
Alma mater Louisiana State University
Influences

Carl Sagan

Jack Horkheimer
Notable awards

1978 FRAS

1996 IPS Service Award

2006 Palmes Académiques

2012 Lifetime Achievement Award Hellenic Physics Society

2015 Academy of Athens Science Award

Dionysis Simopoulos (Greek: Διονύσης Σιμόπουλος, born 8 March 1943) is a contemporary Greek physicist and astronomer, and the Eugenides Planetarium's director emeritus who excelled as an astronomy educator and science populariser in the print and electronic media of Greece.

Personal Information

Louisiana State University.

Dionysios P. Simopoulos was born in Ioannina, Greece, (origins from Gryllos, near Olympia, Elis) although he actually grew up in Patras. He studied Political Communication and Astrophysics (January 1963 - December 1972) at the Departments of Government and Speech, Physics and Astronomy at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During that period he received several awards and honours in various Public speaking and debating competitions. He is married (1968) to Karen Louise Peterson and they have a daughter (1974) and two sons (1976, 1978).

Professional career

He started working in January 1968 and served as an Associate Curator (January–September 1968), as Assistant Director of Education (September 1968-September 1969), and Planetarium Director (September 1969-March 1973) at the Louisiana Arts and Science Center in Baton Rouge, and as a Special Advisor to the Science Committee of the School Board (1970–1973). In October 1972 he was invited to return to Athens by the Eugenides Foundation where he worked as the Eugenides Planetarium's Director for 41 years (April 1973–2014). He has taught in many seminars for university graduates and business executives as an instructor of communication, decision making and problem solving. He has actively attended numerous professional conferences and seminars and has published hundreds of articles in Greek and foreign magazines and newspapers.

Professional activities

Representatives from 30 European Countries at the Constitutional Assembly of the European Association for Astronomy Education in Athens on November 25, 1995.

He served as the President of the European Association for Astronomy Education (1994–2002), as a member of the Executive Council of the International Planetarium Society (1978–2008) and as the Secretary General of the European-Mediterranean Planetarium Association (1976–2008). He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (since 1978) and the International Planetarium Society (since 1980) and holds memberships in many other international scientific organizations. In 1996 he received the highest honor (IPS Service Award) of the International Planetarium Society for his contribution to the international astronomy education, and in 2006 he was honored with the Palmes Académiques of the French Republic. In 2012 the Hellenic Physics Society (EEF) honored him with a special lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the popularization of science in Greece. At the 2015 annual festive session of the Academy of Athens, the country’s highest scientific and cultural institution, Simopoulos received the Academy's Science Award “for his overall contribution to the popularization and dissemination of astronomy and the exemplary operation of the Eugenides Planetarium.”

Audiovisual Activities

He has written more than 500 scripts for science shows and documentary series for the Greek PBS System (ERT). He has written over 250 Planetarium shows scripts, two sets of scripts (30 and 24 episodes) for special Video Lessons on astronomy and space science (for the Greek Ministry of Education), a series of four CD-ROMs on astronomy, and has delivered more than 500 lectures on science and Astrophysics all over Greece.

Television Series (Scripts)

Recording an interview for the documentary series The Pathways of the Stars. On the show's set are Dionysios Simopoulos and Antonios Kontaratos with the show's presenter Kostas Yiannopoulos (standing)

Writing activities

The dome of the Eugenides Planetarium in Athens.
The Guidebook of the first Eugenides Planetarium Digital production titled Cosmic Odyssey was published in November 2003.

He served as a Science Collaborator for the newspapers Vradyni (1970–1975), Sunday Eleftherotypia (1990–1992), Sunday Ethnos (1993–2010) and for the magazines Georama-Experiment (1995–2005), Erevnites ( Kathimerini, 1999–2004), PCWorld (2004–2007) and GEOtropio ( Eleftherotypia, 2000–2010). He was also a member of the Editorial Board of the IPS Journal The Planetarian (1978–2008), has authored a series of six books for young people titled "The Secrets of the Universe" (Erevnites) and a series of 18 books for the Planetarium shows ( Eugenides Foundation ).

Bibliography

Sources

This article is translated and is based on the article of the Greek Wikipedia (el:Main Page)

External links


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