The Cyprus Institute

world class in its standards
international in its membership
partnered with established world class institutions
dedicated to the advancement of knowledge
independent in its support, public in its commitment and service

The Cyprus Institute is being developed under the institutional umbrella of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation (CREF), which is governed by an internationally acclaimed Board of Trustees. Since January 2006, the Board is chaired by Professor Edouard Brézin and includes world-renowned academics, current and former Presidents of the Republic of Cyprus, regional and international political, civic and business leaders. The Board is advised and aided by an international body of distinguished academics known as the Scientific Advisory Council.

Board of Trustees of the Foundation

• CHRISTOFIAS Demetris (Honorary Chair)
  President of the Republic of Cyprus

  H.E. Demetris Christofias, serves as the President of the Republic of Cyprus, since 2008. more ...

• BREZIN Edouard (Chair)
  École Normale Supérieure, France

  Professor of Theoretical Physics at the École Normale Supérieure. Brézin has served in numerous administrative positions including the Presidency of the Administrative Council of CNRS. He was elected a member of the French National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and served as its President from 2004 to 2006. Recipient of many distinctions and awards, both from the US and European Academies. In August 2011, he was awarded the Dirac Medal for his scientific contributions to theoretical physics. more...

• ALBERTS Bruce
  Editor-in-chief of the 'Science' journal

  Professor Alberts, former President of the US National Academy of Sciences from 1993 to 2005, is a renowned biochemist recognized for his work both in biochemistry and molecular biology. He is now the editor-in-chief of the academic journal 'Science'. more...

• BUSQUIN Philippe
  Former EU Commissioner for Research

  Mr. Busquin is the mayor of Seneffe (Belgium) and former EU Commissioner for Research and former Member of the European Parliament for Belgium. He has served as a Minister in Belgium for many years (Minister of Education, Minister of Interior, Minister of Social Affairs and Minister of State). He is the Chairman of the Scientific Technology Options Assessment Panel and a member of the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. more...

• CHRISTOFIDES Titos
  Under Secretary to the President of the Republic

  Dr. Titos Christofides was appointed Under Secretary to the President on 29 February 2008. He studied medicine in Moscow and London and was appointed general practitioner by the Public Service Commission in 1969. In his career, Dr. Christofides has served as a member of, among others, the Cyprus Ophthalmological Society (as President), the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation's Council, the Journalist Ethics Committee and the Council of the Doctors Trade Union.

• CLERIDES Glafkos
  Former President of the Republic of Cyprus

  Glafkos Clerides was the President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1993 until 2003. more...

• COOPER Richard
  Harvard University, USA

  Professor of International Economics at Harvard University and former Provost of Yale University.  Between 1965 and 1966, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Monetary Affairs in the United States Department of State, and between 1977 and 1981 he was the Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. He served as Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (1990-92), as well as Chair of the National Intelligence Council (1995-97). more...

• GEORGIOU George
  Planning Bureau, Cyprus

  Mr Georghiou holds a BSc degree in Economics & Statistics and an MSc degree in Operational Research, from the University of Southampton, UK. He has been the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau in March 2010. Mr Georghiou has, throughout his career, worked in various posts in the Planning Bureau and has varied experience in areas such as macro-economic policy, regional development, environment, agriculture and fisheries, external relations and EU funds management. He currently also holds the post of Secretary to the Council of Ministers. Mr Georghiou, in his capacity as Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau, is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Research Foundation. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Cyprus Airways, the national airline.

• GIANNITSIS Anastasios
  University of Athens, Greece

  Professor Giannitsis was Chief Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister (1994-2000), he served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (2000-01), Alternate Foreign Minister (2001-2004) and Foreign Minister (February - March 2004). He currently is the Chairman of the Hellenic Petroleum Co. S.A.

• GREENFIELD Susan
  Oxford University, UK

  Baroness Greenfield is a Member of the House of Lords, Director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind, former Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the University of Oxford. She is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur. The Times has mentioned her to be one of Britain’s most prominent female scientists. more...

• GRUSS Peter
  Max Planck Society, Germany

  As of 2002, Peter Gruss has held the office of President of the Max Planck Society, a renowned German research organization with over 80 research institutions worldwide. A former member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Molecular Biology in Heidelberg, he was appointed Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen in 1986, and became a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society. In addition, in 1990, Peter Gruss was appointed as honorary Professor at the University of Göttingen. He is also the recipient of many distinctions and awards. More...

• HELAL Hany Mahfouz
  Former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Egypt

  Former Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research of Egypt, Hany Mahfouz Helal had also held the position of Professor of Mineralogy at Cairo University and served as Head of Senghor University in Alexandria.

• JOANNIDES John
  Former CEO of the Cyprus Development Bank

  Mr. Joannides is an economist and former Chief Executive Officer of the Cyprus Development Bank. Joannides played a leading part in the promotion of the scientific analysis, evaluation and survey of works and enterprises. Furthermore, he promoted the internationalization of the Cyprus economy.

• JOANNOU Dakis
  International businessman and philanthropist

  An international businessman and philanthropist, Dakis Joannou is founder of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art and member of the Board of Trustees of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. He is also a member of the Committee on painting and Sculpture of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and a member of the International Councils of the Tate and Solomom R. Guggenheim Foundation. more...

• JORTNER Joshua
  Tel Aviv University, Israel

  Prof. Jortner is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and former Heinemann Professor of Chemistry at the Tel Aviv University in Israel. He is a member and former President (1986-1995) of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and the Humanities, and has served in many administrative posts including the founding Chairmanship of the Israel National Science Foundation. He received numerous awards and honorary distinctions including the Wolf Prize in Chemistry. more...

• KAREKLAS Petros
  Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice

  Dr. Kareklas is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Cyprus. Previously, he has held this position in the Ministries of Defense and of Education and Culture. He has also served in a managerial position in the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB).

• KATEHI Linda
  University of California, USA

  Professor Katehi is the Chancellor of the University of California, Davis. Professor Katehi previously served as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In April 2011, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  more...

• KOKKINOS Kyriakos
  General Manager of IBM Cyprus

  Mr Kokkinos is the General Manager of IBM Cyprus since 1998. He was educated in the US in electronic engineering with specializations in communications and computer engineering. He serves on the Board of Directors of a number of private, business and semi-government organizations. 

• LEVENTI Edmée
  Former Ambassadress of Cyprus to UNESCO

  H.E. Mrs. Leventi is a member of the Board of Directors of the A G Leventis Foundation and many other cultural, philantropic and charity organizations in London and in Cyprus.

• MAVROMMATIS Manthos
  President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce

  Mr. Mavrommatis is an industrialist and President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2005. He was previously the President of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is a Board member of the Bank of Cyprus and of the Cyprus International Institute of Management. Mr. Mavrommatis studies in the London School of Economics and the University of Chicago.

• MOLESKIS Andreas
  Former Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau of Cyprus

  Mr. Moleskis formerly served as Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau of Cyprus. He also served as the Secretary of the Council of Ministers, and as former Chairman of the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Development Bank.

• MONIZ Ernest
  MIT, USA

  Prof. Moniz is the 'Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems' at MIT and Director of MIT's Energy Initiative. He has served as Under Secretary of the US Department of Energy and as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House (1995 - 1997). In 2009, Moniz was appointed by President Obama to join the President's Council on Science and Technology. He is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including the S. Cray prize.  He has been awarded with the Grand Cross Medal of the Archbishop Makarios III for his contribution in the development of Research and Education in Cyprus. more...

• MOUSKOS Andreas
  Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Executive Committee of the CyI

  Mr. Mouskos is a businessman and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Development Bank. He served as member of the House of Representatives for 10 years.

• PAPANICOLAS Costas
  President of the Cyprus Institute

  Prof. Costas N. Papanicolas is a nuclear physicist with over 35 years of experience as a researcher, an educator and a scientific administrator. He received his B.Sc. in Physics and PhD in Nuclear Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA. He currently holds professorial appointments with the University of Athens (Greece) and the U. of Illinois (adjunct). He has served as Director of the Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (Athens GR), Chairman of the Accreditation and Certification Council of Cyprus and Member of the National Advisory Research Council of Greece. He is Chair of the Cyprus-CERN Committee, member of the National Council on Research and Innovation and Vice Chair of its Cyprus Scientific Council. He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

• PISSARIDES Christopher
  Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics

  Prof. Pissarides won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, along with Peter A. Diamond and Dale T. Mortensen. He holds the Chair Norman Sosnow in Economics at the London School of Economics and directs the research program in Macroeconomics at the Centre for Economic Performance. He has been serving with the LSE since 1976. From January 2010 Prof. Pissarides holds the Chair in European Studies at the University of Cyprus.

• PITTAS Andreas
  Former Chairman of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists

  Dr. Pittas was the President of the Federation of Employers and Industrialists for many years. He was  also a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus, the Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Development Bank.
  He trained as a medical doctor in Austria, and in business and marketing later in his career. He is a member of a number of scientific committees and organizations overseas such as the British Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians and he has been Vice-Pesident of the European Generic Medicines Association (Brussels). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus International Institute of Management.

• ROUX Didier
  Group Saint-Gobain, France

  Prof. ROux is the Vice President of Research and Development of the Saint-Gobain Group of France. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences (Institut de France) and has been awarded many prizes and distinctions including the Grand Prix IBM materials, the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences Mergier Bourdeix and the Silver Medal of CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). More...

• SERAGELDIN Ismail
  Director of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt

  Dr. Serageldin is the Director of the Library of Alexandria. He has served as the Vice President of the World Bank and a member of the Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University. more...

• SCHOPPER Herwig
  CERN, Switzerland

  Prof. Schopper is Professor of Physics and former Director General of the CERN Laboratory and former President of the Council of SESAME. He has received numerous distinctions and awards including the UNESCO Albert Einstein Gold Medal and the Tate Medal of the American Institute of Physics. more...

• STEFANIS Constantine
  Director of the University Mental Health Research Institute

  Prof. Stefanis is Professor of Medicine and the Director of the University Mental Health Research Institute. He is a member and former President of the Athens Academy. He has served as a Member of the Greek Parliament and as Minister of Health. He is the recipient of many awards, including distinctions from the US, German and Russian Academies.

• TOUKAN Khaled
  SESAME, Jordan

  H.E. Dr. Toukan is the Minister of Energy and Resources of Jordan. Formerly, he held positions as the Chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission and Director of SESAME and as the Minister of Education of Jordan. He has served as Chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Jordan and President of the Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan. more...

• VASSILIOU George
  Former President of the Republic of Cyprus

  H.E. Dr. Vassiliou, Doctor in Economics, was the President of the Republic of Cyprus between 1988 and 1993. In 1998, he was appointed as Chief Negotiator for Cyprus' accession to the European Union, responsible for all the work of harmonization and the adoption and implementation of the acquis communautaire. more...

• YIANGOU Michalis
  Secretary of the CREF Board

  Dr. Michalis S. Yiangou is the Associate Vice President of Operations of the Cyprus Institute and the Secretary of the Board. He received his PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge in 2004. He has a background in Education and History and was formerly a researcher at the Council of Educational Evaluation and Accreditation.
  His responsibilities include the day to day operations, governance matters and support to the Trustees. He is the official record keeper for the proceedings of the Board. Dr Yiangou joined the CyI in June 2004.