| Dionysios P. Simopoulos | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1943 Ioannina, Greece |
| Residence | Athens, Greece |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Fields | Science communication |
| Institutions |
Eugenides Planetarium LASC Planetarium |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University |
| Influences | Jack Horkheimer |
| Notable awards |
1996 IPS Service Award 2006 Palmes Académiques |
Dionysis Simopoulos (born 1943) (Greek: Διονύσης Σιμόπουλος) is a contemporary Greek physicist and astronomer, who excelled as an astronomy educator and science populariser in the print and electronic media of Greece.
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Dionysios P. Simopoulos was born in Ioannina, Greece, on 8 March 1943 (origins from Gryllos, near Olympia of the Ilia Prefecture) although he actually grew up in Patras. He studied Political Communication and Astrophysics (January 1963 - Dec. 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).
He started working in January 1968 and served as an Associate Curator (January–September 1968), as Assistant Director of Education (Sep. 1968-September 1969), and Planetarium Director (Sep. 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 works ever since as the Director of the Eugenides Planetarium (Apr. 1973–present). 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.
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.
He has written more than 500 scripts for science shows and documentary series for the Greek PBS System (ERT), such as "Red Giants - White Dwarfs”, "Explorers", “The Pathways of the Stars", "Tilegnoseis", "Windows to the Universe", etc. He has written over 250 Planetarium show 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.
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 14 books for the Planetarium shows ( Eugenides Foundation ).