Sophia Kalantzakos
Global Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies, FAS

Sophia Kalantzakos was born in Athens. After graduating from Yale and Columbia, she became a Member of the Hellenic Parliament in 2000, the first woman to be elected from the State of Messinia. As a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, she was responsible for Greek-US relations. She was also a member of the European Affairs Committee, the Committee for Education, and served as Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection. During her tenure at the Ministry, the government passed far reaching pension reforms and she was especially concerned to promote the creation of green jobs through EU structural funds and to help environmental NGOs create new job openings. Currently active in designing and implementing innovative green projects throughout Greece, Sophia Kalantzakos writes widely on economic, labor, and environmental issues in the press and has published a series of educational books on historical and environmental issues.