Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Monday morning at the Maximos Mansion with Yale University President Maurie McInnis and Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Gerasimos Siasos, on the occasion of a joint postgraduate program titled “Global Environmental Sciences and Public Health”, to be offered by the two institutions. The program is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

During the meeting, the excellent collaboration between the two universities was highlighted, and the potential for deepening this partnership was discussed.

The Prime Minister emphasized the government’s commitment to enhancing the international outreach of Greek public universities and promoting collaborations with leading global institutions.

The joint postgraduate program is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between NKUA and Yale in 2021. Within this framework, participants exchanged views on the prospect of establishing a Center of Excellence in Attica to host broader academic cooperation between the two institutions.

At the start of the meeting, Prime Minister Mitsotakis stated:

“Welcome. I am very pleased to receive you in Athens, Madam President. Congratulations on taking up your new role and on your very impressive commencement address, which I had the opportunity to hear—truly moving, grand, and deeply traditional. I’m very happy you’re here and especially glad that the collaboration between Yale and the University of Athens is thriving, with the first joint master’s program ready to launch and other exciting projects in the pipeline. It is particularly important for us to cultivate such partnerships between our public universities and top international academic institutions.

The process of establishing non-profit, non-state universities in Greece is currently underway. Just a few days ago, the legislation we passed was ruled constitutional by the Council of State. However, my priority has always been to ensure that our public universities—which will continue to educate the vast majority of Greek students—remain open and foster this kind of collaboration. So I’m very glad this program is beginning, and I look forward to hearing your ideas on how we can further strengthen this partnership.”

Yale President Maurie McInnis responded:

“Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. It is a great honor to be here. Yale has had a long-standing commitment to Greek and classical studies. This opportunity to develop a program with the University of Athens and deepen our partnership—particularly in public health and environmental studies—is a tremendous opportunity for our university to reinforce our commitment to Greece. We’re very excited about this partnership and deeply appreciate the support from your government and the University of Athens. We know this collaboration will continue to grow in the years ahead. Thank you.”

NKUA Rector Gerasimos Siasos said:

“It’s a great honor for us to welcome and collaborate with a top institution like Yale University. It’s also an honor to host the new President. Yesterday at our university, we had a constructive discussion that lasted over five or six hours. I would also like to thank Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his tremendous support of this program.”

Also present at the meeting from the Greek government were:

Sofia Zacharaki, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports
Akis Skertsos, Minister of State
Nikos Papaioannou, Deputy Minister for Higher Education

Participants from the academic side included:

Vasilis Vasiliou, Professor at Yale School of Public Health
Nikolaos Thomaidis, Professor and Vice President of NKUA’s Governing Board
Kyriakos Sampatakakis, Head of the Yale Club of Greece