The ceremony of the Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching “Vassilis XANTHOPOULOS – Stephanos PNEVMATIKOS” was held at the main Hall of the Old Parliament in Athens on December 14, 2010, at 19.00 p.m. The award was presented by H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Karolos Papoulias to Aristides Baltas, Professor of Philosophy of Science at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). Mr. Theodossios Tassios, Emeritus Professor of NTUA, presented the academic work of the awardee. Professor Baltas then gave a talk on: “Teaching philosophy in a Public University: the institution, the areas of freedom, the asymmetrical gifts”.

The year 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Award, which is the only academic prize in Greece that rewards the excellence in academic teaching.

The Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) established this Award in the memory of Vassilis Xanthopoulos and Stephanos Pnevmatikos. They were both distinguished professors at the University of Crete, members of FORTH and internationally renowned scientists who were murdered in 1990, while teaching an advanced seminar. The selection of the awardees is made by a committee of distinguished academic teachers from a wide range of scientific areas and the awardees upon their selection become automatically a committee member.