Father And Son Receive Honorary Degrees From SJU

Photos Catherine Tsounis The Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos received an honorary Ph.D. in theology from St. John's University President the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M.

A father and son made history on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13 at the 137th commencement exercises of St. John's University, Jamaica. Before an audience of some 19,000 people, a record 2,577 of whom were SJU undergraduate and graduate students receiving their degrees, George Stephanopoulos, ABC Chief Washington Correspondent, delivered the 2007 commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the St. John's University Law School. His father, the Rev. Robert G. Stephanopoulos, Dean of the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City, who has taught a course in Eastern Orthodoxy at SJU for 20 years, received an honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology degree.

Besides its position as the largest Catholic university system in the United States, SJU has the highest concentration of Greek- American college students in the U.S., most of whom are enrolled in the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, the School of Education and St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Rev. Stephanopoulos travels to the Jamaica campus from Manhattan twice a week to teach his Eastern Orthodoxy course. Although he is an acknowledged tough grader, for two decades college youth have been attending his classes and enjoying his energetic style of lecturing. "One of the high points of my education career was teaching Despina Siolas, who is moving ahead and up into the strato- sphere," he noted at a press conference after the commencement exercises. Rev. Stephanopoulos is also supportive of Dr. Asher Matathias' views on the Greek Jewry of Volos, Greece and the expansion of the SJU Modern Greek Language and Literature Program.

George Stephanopoulos received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. John's University Law School.

The person truly honored on Mother's Day was Presvitera Nikki Stephanopoulos. The honors conferred on her husband and son at the SJU Commencement exercises were a reflection of her dedication to her family, the Greek Orthodox Church and her country. The event is covered in detail at the St. John's University Web site at http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/commencement/ pr_uni_070513.sju.

Photos Catherine Tsounis George Stephanopoulos with Despina Siolas, a student in the Eastern Orthodoxy course taught by the Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos. Presvitera Nikki Stephanopoulos, an outstanding Greek-American mother of a unique son and wife of an internationally known priest.