George Papandreou

George Papandreou was born on 16 June 1952 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

Education:

He was educated at Athens College, York Highschool, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA., Viggbyholmskolan, Stockholm, Sweden and King City Secondary School, Toronto, Canada.

He holds at BA degree in sociology, Amhest College, MA, USA (1970-75), and pursued undergraduate studies in sociology at Stockholm University, Sweden (1972-73). He holds an M.Sc. degree in sociology and development from the London School of Economics (1976-77) and was a Fellow at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA) at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (1992-1993). He was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Amherst College in 2002.

Ministerial career:

George Papandreou has been Prime Minister of Greece since October 2009. He was previously Minister of Foreign Affairs (1999-2004); Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs (1996-1) and Government Coordinator of 2004 Olympic Games Bid (1996-1997); Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (1994-1996); Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1993-1994) where he was responsible for US -Greek Relations and took part in the Greek Presidency's negotiations on the new EU membership of Sweden, Finland, Austria and Norway; Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (1988-1989); Government Coordinator of 1996 Olympic Games Hellenic Candidacy (1988-1989); and Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture (1985-1987) in charge of (a) Greeks of the Diaspora Affairs, (b) Adult Education - Continuing Education and Youth Affairs.

Parliamentary career:

He is Member of Parliament for First District of Salonika (2004-present) and was previously MP for First District of Athens (1996-2004), and District of Achaia (Patras) (1981-1996). He was Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee of Education (1982 - 1985), Vice-Chairperson of the cross-party Parliamentary Committee for Free Radio (1987), and In Charge of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Education (1989-93).

Party career:

George Papandreou has been President of PASOK since 8 February 2004. He has been a Member of the Executive Office and the Political Bureau of PASOK since July 1996 and a Member of the Central Committee of PASOK since 1984. He has been a Member of the Executive Office of PASOK (1987-1988) and Secretary for the Committee on the Greek Diaspora (1990-1993). He served on the PASOK Political Committee between 1975-1985 on the Committee for Studies, Publications and Seminars (Secretary), Agricultural Cooperatives (Secretary), Organization Committee (Deputy Secretary) and International Relations (Member).

Other activities:

He has been President of the Socialist International (Athens, 2006); Vice-President of the Socialist International (Ramallah, 2005); Vice-President of the International Olympic Truce Centre; Founding Member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (Prague, 1990); Founding Member of the Lagonisi Initiative on Cooperation in the Balkans (1994); Responsible for Government Coordinator for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games (1997); Member of the Board of the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies; Member of the Board of the Foundation for Research and Self-Education; Member of Research Teams at the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies; Member of the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Foundation For Peace.

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