Dr. Spiros H. Anastasiadis, professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Crete and Director of the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, was elected a Member of the Evaluation and Accreditation Council of the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE, www.ethaae.gr).

HAHE is the evolution of the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (ADIP) according to Law No. 4653/2020. Its mission is to provide quality assurance in Higher Education by contributing, on one hand, to the planning and implementation of a national strategy for Higher Education with its Supreme Council and, on the other, by evaluating and accrediting the quality of the operation of Higher Education Institutions with its Evaluation and Accreditation Council.

Members of the Council are the President of the HAHE, eight University Professors specializing in the various scientific sectors, one student representative and one representative of the Chambers. Prof. Anastasiadis was appointed to be responsible for the scientific sector of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The duties of the Council include the evaluation of the Universities and their Academic and Research units, the accreditation of the study programmes of the three cycles of education and the study programmes of the lifelong and distance learning, the accreditation of any new study programmes prior to their launching as well as the conduct of thematic evaluations of the Universities on issues such as the internationalization strategy, the employment of their graduates, the quality of the Academic environment, etc.

Prof. Anastasiadis received his Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) in 1983 and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, Princeton, USA in 1988 whereas he had been a Visiting Scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center in1988-1989. He was a Professor of Materials at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete (1993–2005) and a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at theDepartment of Chemical Engineering of theAUTh (2005–2008). In 2008, he wasappointed Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Crete. He was the Founder, Organizer and Alternate Scientific Coordinator of the Department of Materials Science and Technology of the University of Crete (1999-2004) whereas he served as the Alternate Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering of AUTh (09/2007–10/2008). Prof. Anastasiadis was awarded the John H. Dillon Medal of the American Physical Society in 1998and was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000. He was elected a Mary Shepard B. Upson Visiting Professor at Cornell University for the Academic year 2018-2019. Prof. Anastasiadis is the President of the Hellenic Polymer Society (ELEP, 12/2012-now), whereas heserved as the President of the EuropeanPolymerFederationfor the years 2018 and 2019. He was elected Director of IESL-FORTH in 2013 and was re-elected in November 2018.

Professor Anastasiadis has been a Memberof the Quality Assurance Committee since its establishment (01/2009) in the context of the first implementation of the law for Evaluation of Greek Universitiesand has been serving as the Vice Chair of the Research Ethics and Integrity Committee of the University of Crete (07/2018 - now), while he had served as Vice Chair of the Technical Council (02/2011–10/2016). As a Member of the Quality Assurance Committee, Prof. Anastasiadis worked together with successive Rectors of the University of Crete, the respective Vice Rectors who were Chairs of the Quality Assurance Committee and the Committee staff to advance its mission. He participated in the proposal submission for organizing and financing the work of the Committee and significantly contributed in selecting the data required for the assessment of Faculty Members and Departments in general and in the utilization of data within the University. He participated in the preparation of the External Evaluation of Departments of the University of Crete and played a key role in the preparation and in the actual successful External Evaluation of the entire University of Crete. He also contributed in preparing the successful External Accreditation of the Internal Quality Assurance System of the University and the respective Accreditations of the Undergraduate Study Programmes of Departments of the University of Crete.

The appointment of Prof. Anastasiadis as Member of the Evaluation and Accreditation Council of HAHE by the selection Committee is an acknowledgement of his significant contributions in advancing the evaluation processes and promoting the improvement of the quality of the University; these have resulted in the validation of the Excellence of the University of Crete by several external Committees. It also confirms the significant role gifted Academics, who firmly believe and, most importantly, implement the principles of Excellence both for themselves and for the Institutions they serve.