Dionysios P. Simopoulos was born in Ioannina, Greece, although he actually grew up in Patras. He studied Political Communication at the Departments of Government. During that period he received several awards and honors in various Public speaking and debating competitions. He is married to Karen Louise Peterson and they have a daughter and two sons.
Professional career
He started working in January 1968 and served as an Associate Curator, as Assistant Director of Education, and Planetarium Director at the ' in Baton Rouge, and as a Special Advisor to the Science Committee of the School Board. In October 1972 he was invited to return to Athens by the Eugenides Foundation where he worked as the ' Director for 41 years. He has taught in many seminars for university graduates and business executives as an instructor of communication, decision making and problem solving. He has actively attended numerous professional conferences and seminars and has published hundreds of articles in Greek and foreign magazines and newspapers.
Professional activities
He served as the President of the , as a member of the Executive Council of the International Planetarium Society and as the Secretary General of the European-Mediterranean Planetarium Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Planetarium Society and holds memberships in many other international scientific organizations. In 1996 he received the highest honor of the International Planetarium Society for his contribution to the international astronomy education, and in 2006 he was honored with the Palmes Académiques of the French Republic. In 2012 the Hellenic Physics Society honored him with a special lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the popularization of science in Greece. At the 2015 annual festive session of the Academy of Athens, the country’s highest scientific and cultural institution, Simopoulos received the Academy's Science Award “for his overall contribution to the popularization and dissemination of astronomy and the exemplary operation of the Eugenides Planetarium.”
Audiovisual Activities
He has written more than 500 scripts for science shows and documentary series for the Greek PBS System . He has written over 250 Planetarium shows scripts, two sets of scripts for special Video Lessons on astronomy and space science, a series of four CD-ROMs on astronomy, and has delivered more than 500 lectures on science and Astrophysics all over Greece.
Television Series (Scripts)
Red Giants, White Dwarfs: A series of 195 half-hour shows on physical sciences.
The Great Adventure: A series of 30 15-min documentaries on space science.
Tele-Quiz: A series of 26 half-hour instructional shows.
Windows to the Universe: A series of 24 15-min documentaries on astronomy for High School students.
Phenomena: A series of four documentaries on general science.
Writing activities
He served as a Science Collaborator and Columnist for the newspapers Vradyni, Sunday Eleftherotypia, Sunday Ethnos, Sunday Kathimerini and for the magazines Georama-Experiment, Erevnites , PCWorld and GEOtropio. He was also a member of the Editorial Board of the IPS Journal , has authored a series of six books for young people titled "The Secrets of the Universe" and a series of 18 books for the Planetarium shows.
