Tuesday, September 28 @ 1PM EsT

Van Coufoudakis, Ph.D is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University. He is also Rector Emeritus of the University of Nicosia, in Nicosia Cyprus. Between 2012-2014 he served as President of the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency of the Government of Greece. He has authored and edited several books and over 100 articles published in academic journals and books in the US and Europe. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and honorary doctorates from Indiana University and from the University of Nicosia. In 1998, the President of Greece awarded him the decoration of the order of the Phoenix for his contributions to Hellenic letters.

Constantine Hatzidimitriou received his doctorate from Columbia University in Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek history. He was a Gennadius Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Educational Counselor at the U.S. Consulate and Fulbright office in Thessaloniki, and an administrator and professor at Anatolia College. He is a Fellow of the American Hellenic Institute Foundation in Washington D.C., editor of its two academic journals and has taught at various universities in the NYC area--most recently at Queens College’s Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. Among his books are: American Accounts Documenting the Destruction of Smyrna, and Founded on Freedom and Virtue: Documents Illustrating the Impact in the United States of the Greek War of Independence. He has also published many studies in scholarly journals and contributed chapters to books such as his supplementary study on Turkish responsibility for the Smyrna fire and the American-cover up which appeared in 2012, and a recent article on George Horton’s Blight of Asia published in 2022. A new book chapter on the persecution and destruction of American Educational Institutions in Asia Minor such as Anatolia College by the Turks is expected to appear early next year. His mother, Elli Linakis-Hatzidimitriou and her entire family survived the Smyrna catastrophe during 1922. Currently he is beginning a new study on the American Philhellenes during the Greek Revolution of 1821, and is engaged in a long-term study of Byzantine Central Greece.

Ismini Lamb is the Director of the Modern Greek Studies Program at Georgetown University where she has taught and researched Greek language, history, and culture for more than 30 years. For the past nine years, she has labored as the authorized biographer of George Horton. The recently released biography is entitled The Gentle American: George Horton's Odyssey and His True Account of the Smyrna Catastrophe (Gorgias Press 2022).  Ismini speaks frequently on diverse issues including Horton’s historic legacy."

 Stavros Terry Stavridis was born in Cairo, Egypt to Greek parents and migrated with them to Australia. He has also lived in Portland, Oregon. He is an academic/author/historian/public speaker and freelance writer for the National Herald in New York. He is the author of several books including The Greek-Turkish War 1919-23 and The Assyrians in Australian Documents and contributed book chapters in modern Greek history. Stavridis has lectured at universities and community college levels in Australia and the U.S. He was a historical researcher at the National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. Stavros’ research interests cover the Asia Minor campaign and disaster, Refugees and the League of Nations, Immigration, US history 1900-40, Modern British History, Australian History, Middle Eastern History, the Assyrian and Armenian genocides, Greece in the Balkan Wars 1912-13 and the First World War and history in general.