On Wednesday the 9th of November 2022, an official delegation of 15 American Universities visited Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU). The visit was part of the initiative “Pharos Summit 2022” which was organized by U.S. Department of State, the Government of the Hellenic Republic of Greece and the Institute of International Education (IIE).
During this international event representatives (academic and administrative staff) of 30 American Universities, between 6-12 of November, visited 24 Greek Universities all over Greece exploring new partnerships, strengthening already existing ties with local institutions, stimulating students and academic staff international mobility, promoting collaborations at the level of joint study and research programs between University Institutions.
HMU welcomed in a special ceremony at Heraklion Campus, representatives of the following Universities:
Carnegie Mellon University
Johns Hopkins University
Joliet Junior College
Lehigh University
Ohio Northern University
Rutgers University
Stockton University
Tufts University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Cincinnati
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of South Alabama
University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering
Wayne State University
Yale University
Hellenic Mediterranean University already has students’ exchange programs and summer schools in collaboration with the American Institutions below:
Rutgers University
Springfield College, Springfield MA
The Regents of the University of Michigan
University of South Alabama
York College of Pennsylvania
The Rector of Hellenic Mediterranean University Professor Nikolaos Katsarakis pointed out that ” It is a strategic goal and priority for HMU to strengthen internationalization actions by exchanging students and academic staff, by developing joint educational and research activities, as well as co-organizing international summer schools at Crete” while the Vice-Rector for Research and Lifelong Education, Professor Christos Floros and the Academic Head of International Relations Office Assoc. Professor Konstantinos Petridis presented university ‘s excellences in research and international collaborations.
The American Universities delegation was accompanied by officials of Greek Ministry of Education and Institute of International Education (I.I.E.). The Co-President of I.I.E. Sarah Ilchman, during her address, stressed the intention of I.I.E. to support and promote partnerships between Greek and American Universities and underlined the need to identify specific areas and scientific fields of cooperation, while the Representative of American Universities Dr. Richard Carter expressed his satisfaction with the actions already developed between HMU and the American Universities and the memoranda cooperation signed.
The welcome ceremony was followed by a closed discussion on thematic areas of future collaborations. The event ended with a Campus Tour (main campus and other institutional premises, Agricultural Farm, library, dormitories, stadium and HMU laboratories)