I studied Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago and graduated with Highest Honors in 1986.  I then studied under Prof. Dan Neumark at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating in 1991 with a PhD in Chemical Physics/Physical Chemistry.  Following two years of postdoctoral research at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore California with Dr. David Chandler, I returned to Greece to join the Faculty at the University of Crete and the Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers at the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas. From 2013 I have also an Adjunct Professorship at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, in Göttingen Germany.

My main research interests are in the field of chemical dynamics. I have made well-recognized important contributions to the understanding of the state to state Photodissociation dynamics of molecules and clusters that helped shape the field.  My laboratory was amongst the first photofragment ion imaging machines in Europe and part of the EU- funded Imaging Research Networks, continuously since 1997.  In 2001 we pioneered a new variant of ion imaging and velocity mapping that called Slice Imaging.  My team has also extended the use of charged particle imaging to the fields of (i) Molecular Electronics, by studying the electron transmission through organized thin films, (ii) Dye Sensitized  Photovoltaics, and (iii) in Medical Spectroscopy / Ophthalmology, where we pioneered  laser-based methods to the cross linking treatment of keratoconus, (iv)

Since 2013 I am also group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinery Sciences, in Göttingen Germany, where I have built a new experimental operation looking at fundamental processes on surfaces.  My new team has demonstrated for the first time that the novel imaging techniques, developed on Crete, can be implemented towards studying the underlying chemical dynamics and kinetics for elementary processes in heterogeneous catalysis (Velocity Resolved Kinetics).

Education

• 1986, BSc with Highest Honors in Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
• 1991, PhD in Physical Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, USA

Career

• 1994-1999, Assistant Professor University of Crete and Research associate IESL-FORTH, Greece
• 1999-2007, Associate Professor University of Crete and Research associate IESL-FORTH, Greece
• 2007- present, Professor University of Crete and Research associate IESL-FORTH, Greece
• 2012-present, Affiliated Professor University and Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany

Interests

• Chemical Dynamics and Kinetics, Ion and Electron Imaging, Heterogeneous Catalysis

Awards/Prizes/Distinctions

• Humboldt Foundation Research Award 2012
• Friedrich von Bessel Award, Humboldt Foundation 2004
• Bodossaki Science Award in Chemistry 2003
• University of California Regents Fellow, Berkeley 1988-89
• IBM Predoctoral Fellow, Berkeley 1987-88
• Phi Beta Kappa, 1986
• B.J. Freud Award, Outstanding Junior in Chemistry, University of Illinois 1985