Dionysis Simopoulos

Dionysios P. Simopoulos
Born	March 8, 1943 (1943-03-08) (age 68) 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	1996 IPS Service Award 2006 Palmes Académiques

Dionysis Simopoulos (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.

Personal Information

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).

Professional career

He started working in January of 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 of 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.

Professional activities

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.

Audiovisual activities

The dome of the Eugenides Planetarium in Athens.

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.

Writing activities

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 ).

Bibliography

• The Birth of the Stars, Athens: Erevnites, 1996, 104 pp. (ISBN 978-960-368-022-2)

• The Death of the Stars, Athens: Erevnites, 1997, 102 pp.

• Planets and Satellites, Athens: Erevnites, 1999, 104 pp.

• At the Earth's Neighbourhood, Athens: Erevnites, 2001, 112 pp.

• The Discovery of the Galaxies, Athens: Erevnites, 2003, 112 pp. (ISBN 978-960-368-287-5)

• Cosmic Odyssey, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2003, 64 pp.

• Voyage without an End, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2004, 120 pp.

• New Horizons, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2005, 120 pp.

• Genesis and Cataclysm, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2006, 120 pp.
• Black Holes, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2006, 120 pp.
• The Star of Christmas, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2006, 120 pp.

• The Dance of the Planets, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2007, 64 pp.

• The Pathway of the Sun, Athens: ELTA, Hellenic Post, 2007, 120 pp.

• From the Earth to the Moon, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2007, 120 pp.
• The Violent Universe, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2008, 120 pp.
• The 7 Wonders of the Cosmos, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2008, 140 pp.

• The Biography of the Universe, Athens: Erevnites, 2008, 112 pp. (ISBN 978-960-368-438-1)
• Death of the Stars, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2009, 120 pp.
• The Great Adventure, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2009, 128 pp.
• The Day Star, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2010, 120 pp.

• Windows to the Universe, Athens: Eugenides Foundation, 2010, 120 pp.

External links

• Video "Greek Science Centers: Eugenides Planetarium" (52:00), ERT Archives, 1983
• Video "Creating Tomorrow: Dionysis Simopoulos" (29:00), ERT Archives, 2001
• Video "Like a Fairy Tale: The Kingdom of Heaven" (55:00) ERT Archives, 2006
• Video "Diaries: Dionysis Simopoulos, George Babiniotis, Dimitri Trichopoulos" (46:00), ERT Archives, 2007
• Video "Monogram: Dionysis Simopoulos" (28:00) ΕΤ-1, 2009
• Eugenides Foundation

Sources

• This article is translated and is based from the article at the Greek Wikipedia (el:Main Page)

Persondata
Name	Simopoulos, Dionysis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 March 1943
Place of birth	Ioannina, Greece
Date of death
Place of death