Maria Athanasopoulou

Dr. Maria Athanasopoulou holds a PhD, MS, and BS in Health Sciences from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She also earned an Advanced Certificate in Teaching Modern Greek as a Second/Foreign Language from the Center for the Greek Language, under the Hellenic Ministry of Education. Her academic career began at the University of Athens (2004–2015) and continued at Queens College (CUNY), where she has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Modern Greek Program since 2016. At Queens College, she also served as Associate Director of the Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from 2022 to 2024.  She served as Associate Director of the Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of Queens College (2022–2024).  

Additionally, since 2020, Dr. Athanasopoulou has served as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Center for Hellenic Studies at Stony Brook University, where she contributed to developing the curriculum for Conversational Greek I & II. In 2024, she joined the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University as a Faculty Development Specialist in the Office for Faculty Affairs.

She also helped establish the international 'Summer in Greece' program at the Center for Hellenic Studies, where she currently serves as Program Director and Faculty. Launched in 2023, this study abroad initiative combines immersive Greek language instruction with rich cultural experiences.