Demetrios Liappas
Director of the Basil P. Caloyeras Center for Modern Greek Studies at Loyola Marymount University
The Theodore Saloutos Award

Demetrios Liappas was born in Nestorio, Kastoria, in northern Greece, and raised in Thessaloniki.  He arrived in the United States in 1956, making his home in Cleveland, Ohio.  He attended Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University) and graduated from the Ohio State University in Columbus with a degree in Mathematics.  After graduation, he worked for many years for Westinghouse, General Electric and Honeywell Corporations.  In 1968, Demetrios moved to Los Angeles where he has lived ever since.  In the academic year 1972-73, he began teaching Modern Greek at Loyola Marymount University, invited to join the faculty by the late Professor of Humanities, Hugh Gray.

With late Professor Gray and late Peter B. Caloyeras, Demetrios is one of the founders of the Basil P. Caloyeras Center for Modern Greek Studies at LMU. The Center continues to flourish today introducing Modern Greece to new generations of students.  During his tenure as Director of the Center,  which began in 1980, he has brought many notable scholars, theologians and artists to the campus both for special lectures and to teach courses offered by the Center.  These include, among others, the late Athan Karras, the late Fr. George Venetos, and the current faculty: Fr. John Bakas and Dr. Christina Bogdanou. With the help of the Caloyeras family and members of the Greek American community the Center established an endowment which needs to grow to support all its academic activities. Other accomplishments  include the establishment of  a Minor in Modern Greek Studies,  and the Odyssey Program, LMU’s Summer Study in Greece, which brings about twenty-five students to Greece for an intensive five-week study of Greek History, Literature and the Arts. Demetrios is happiest in the classroom.  Every semester, he teaches two or three courses drawn from the topics of Modern Greek language, literature, history, and culture.

Demetrios was involved in the establishment of the Save Cyprus Council (now The American Hellenic Council) and has remained active throughout its history. He has also been a member of the Greek Heritage Society of Southern California since its inception.  He is a member of AHEPA and a member of the Saint Sophia Cathedral Parish. Demetrios is on the Advisory Board of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at LMU and in the Spring 2009 semester, served as its Acting Director.