Curriculum Vitae of George Th. Chronis

George Th. Chronis was born in Athens, Greece, in May 1945.

After his studies at the Greek-French school, the Lycee Leonin, he entered the University of Athens in the Physiognosy and Geography Department.

In 1973, he obtained a scholarship from the French Government, which enabled him to matriculate in the University of Bordeaux I (3rd cycle of studies). In 1975, he completed his studies in Bordeaux, where his special subjects concerned coastal dynamic sedimentology.

In 1979, he was awarded an UNESCO scholarship, to carry out research at the University of Perpignan, France. Working in cooperation with the University of Barcelona, an important research network was established which was concerned with marine research in the Mediterranean Sea. This cooperation was the starting point for many future large and complex EU-financed oceanographic projects, the development of which continues right up till now.

In 1985, he was awarded the degree of Ph.D. from the Department of Geology, University of Athens.

In 1994, he was elected Director of the Institute of Oceanography of the National Centre for Marine Research(NCMR) Athens, in which position he was re-elected in 1999. During his time of office, the candidacy of the Institute of Oceanography in the lists of European high-quality research institutes was confirmed by an internationally-refereed Commission. This came as a reward for the collective and cumulative efforts of the Institute of Oceanography, which had taken place during his time in office. One important result from that collective effort was an eleven-fold increase in the Institute’s income, deriving from projects funded by the European Union, the doubling of the work force, the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment and the construction of the new building TRITON which houses the Athens Centre of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research.

In November 2001, he was elected Full Professor of the University of Aegean in its recently-established Marine Science and Oceanography Department.

In March 2002, he was unanimously elected as President and Director of NCMR by the National Council for Research and Technology. In June 2003, he became Director and President of the Administrative Council at the newly-established research centre, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) which resulted from the merging of the National Centre for Marine Research (NCMR) and the Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC). HCMR is now one of the most important centres of marine research in the Mediterranean Sea.

Professor Chronis’ participation in national and international projects has been particularly significant. He has been responsible for the planning, construction, coordination and implementation of a considerable number of European as well as national projects. His latest project, the coordination of the POSEIDON project, constitutes a significant step forward in the development of operational oceanography at the national and European level, not least because of the fact that Greece is the only country in the Mediterranean Sea with a network which can carry out continuous observation of all the parameters of the marine environment (oceanographic, environmental, meteorological).

Professor Chronis has participated in many national and international groups concerning research in the marine environment (Academy of Athens, European Union UNESCO, etc.). During the period 1995-2000, he was elected as member of the Executive Committee of UNESCO’s Intergovermental Commission of Oceanography. He is the author of many scientific articles in national magazines, as well as of a series of university textbooks concerning coastal dynamics, the marine ecosystem and operational oceanography.

In March 2003, he was awarded the special distinction of the Legion d’Honneur from the President of the French Republic, with special reference to his contribution to the cooperation between Greece and France in the field of marine research in the Mediterranean Sea.

He is married with one son.