$1.5 million donation honors donor's parents

Malamati and Achillea Karakas immigrated to the United States from Greece in the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, the couple knew little English and subsequently struggled due to the language barrier and learning curve they faced.

Whether they knew it or not, those two little-known immigrants from Greece would come to affect the University of Missouri-St. Louis in immeasurable ways. Malamati and Achillea did this through their son, Nicholas.

To honor his parents, Nicholas recently donated a gift of $1.5 million from the Hellenic Government-Karakas Family Foundation to UM-St. Louis.

"It's been a long time since [Nicholas and his brother, Tony] started the foundation," he said. Indeed the trust is now in its 30th year and has contributed to numerous scholarships and college grants throughout its lifespan.

The Karakas Family Foundation is no newcomer when it comes to donations to UM-St. Louis either and neither is Nicholas Karakas.

"Nick was the key person who helped endow the Greek Studies chair [at UM-St. Louis] in 1996 along with other noted donors in the Greek community" said Chancellor Thomas George. "He was definitely the ringleader then, and this time it is just him."

Karakas' most recent donation is actually a compliment to another one, and was made in order to endow a chair in Byzantine and Orthodox Studies to go along with the Greek Studies chair.

"[Byzantine and Orthodox Studies] is a course that has a high profile in universities up east, but the courses that are often offered elsewhere in history generally emphasize Western Civilization and even African Civilization and the Far East," Karakas said.

"I think the Mediterranean area has generally been omitted, yet it was around for 1,100 years. I want this course to tie in with other studies of the near East because they contributed in the reign of the Byzantine Empire."

Joel Glassman, director of the Center for International Studies, agreed with Karakas that a chair in Byzantine and Orthodox studies will be beneficial to the curriculum at UM-St. Louis.

"A chair in Byzantine and Orthodox Studies will enable us to offer more courses and double the number of Greek Studies courses offered. Everyone is very excited," Glassman said.

Considering that Karakas is of Greek decent, it does not seem surprising that his philanthropy often correlates with Greek history. Less obvious however, is why the St. Louis University graduate has chosen to focus so much of his time on UM-St. Louis.

"I became attracted to UMSL because of the Greek Chair. At the time we knew professors [at UM-St. Louis] and everything just seemed to fit. Also, it would have been more challenging to get involved in a larger university," Karakas said.

These days, Karakas said he feels strongly that the future of UM-St. Louis will be prosperous and he said he is glad of his involvement thus far.

"I think UMSL will soon be the premier university of the system. I think it is only a matter of time before that happens," Karakas said. "The administration at UMSL functions extremely efficiently and I am very proud and put great faith in its leadership."

As for when UM-St. Louis students can expect to benefit from Karakas' donation, no one is sure at this time.

"We still have to work out the details on the donation," said George. "We will do an international advertisement of the position and I can't say how long that will take … it might take a while."

Once the position is filled however, the Chancellor, like Glassman and Karakas, is not in doubt of its benefits.

"The Byzantine and Orthodox studies chair is sure to be a wonderful compliment to the Greek Studies program at UMSL," he said.

Karakas currently serves as Chairman of the Greek Professorship Advisory Committee and is a member of the Chancellor's Council. Karakas has also been awarded the Chancellor's Medallion for contributing to the University's growth and development.

For more information about the Hellenic Government-Karakas Family Foundation Professorship in GreekGreek Studies or UM-St. Louis' Greek Studies programs visit the center for International Studies Web page at http://www.umsl.edu/services/cis/index.html or stop by the Nicholas and Theodora Matsakis Hellenic Culture Center in 210 Lucas Hall.