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Distinguished Achievement AwardNicholas KontaridisNicholas Kontaridis has held many titles —poet, accountant, chef, manager — but one isparticularly close to his heart: teacher.In 1995, Mr. Kontaridis came out of retirementafter more than 20 years at Walt Disney Worldto join the fledgling Center for Greek Studies atthe University of Florida. By the time he retiredonce again, 17 years later, the center had grownfrom offering a few language classes to being oneof the leading Modern Greek Studies programsin the country. Much of that success was due toMr. Kontaridis’ dedication, both to the studentswho flocked to his classes and to promoting thecenter to Florida’s Greek-American community,where he is widely known and greatly esteemed.In many ways, he became the face of the Centerfor Greek Studies to the larger community.Mr. Kontaridis holds a degree from the HermesAccounting School in Athens, Greece, as wellas a bachelor of science degree in politicalscience and history from Pantios Universityin Athens. After postgraduate studies in lawat Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, hecame to the United States for graduate studyin history at St. Michael’s College in Vermontas well as in international relations at BrighamYoung University. He received a master ofscience degree and an education specialistdegree in multilingual/multicultural educationfrom Florida State University in 1986 and1989, respectively. During his time as a chefand kitchen manager at Disney, he directed andtaught at five Greek-language schools based inchurches around Florida.As a poet, Mr. Kontaridis has published hiswork in the United States, Canada and Greece,with poems selected for International Library ofPoetry compilations and the Greek EducationJournal, among other publications.Mr. Kontaridis continues to further Greekstudies in America by teaching Greek-Americanchildren to honor their ancestral languageand culture, sharing his appreciation for anddedication to all things Greek.At UF, he shared his love for Greek cultureand language through his classes on ancientand contemporary Greece. His passion inspiredthe students in his Greek literature, historyand language classes, many of whom remain incontact with him years after graduation.2014 SPRINGCommencement14