[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 107 (Thursday, July 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8269-H8270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO DR. CONSTANTINE PAPADAKIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SESTAK. I rise today to honor a true visionary, a world-class 
intellect, and a leader of the first order, Dr. Constantine Papadakis. 
The passing of this extraordinary man has left a void that extends 
beyond the Philadelphia region to all corners of our Nation and his 
beloved birth country, Greece.
  Dr. Papadakis served for 14 years as president of Drexel University. 
This

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tenure ranked him among the longest serving leaders in higher education 
today. Under Dr. Papadakis' direction, Drexel's total enrollment grew 
by more than 130 percent, to 21,000, and full-time undergraduates 
increased to more than 11,000 students.
  Dr. Papadakis led the effort to create the Drexel University College 
of Medicine, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel Online, 
and the Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, California.
  He also formed a partnership between Drexel University and the 
Pennsylvania Institute of Technology, an intellectual outreach 
initiative that will help untold numbers of young men and women realize 
their full potential. The Pennsylvania Institute of Technology's new 
scholarship program for veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and 
Afghanistan is another testament to the Papadakis legacy.
  Beyond academia, Dr. Constantine Papadakis was a champion of local 
economic development. He helped create Select Greater Philadelphia. He 
was a founding member of the World Trade Center of Greater 
Philadelphia. He also served on the Schuylkill River Development 
Corporation Board.
  During his tenure at Drexel University, Dr. Papadakis had the 
opportunity to meet with various foreign dignitaries. In 1997, then-
President of the People's Republic of China visited Drexel University, 
where his son had earned his Ph.D.
  Dr. Papadakis also had a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 
Rome during the canonization of St. Katherine Drexel, niece of 
University founder Anthony J. Drexel. More recently, Drexel University 
was host to the October, 2007, Democratic Presidential campaign debate.
  Dr. Papadakis was born in Athens in 1946, and did not arrive in the 
United States until 1969. Since his arrival as a student, he has 
received more than 150 major awards and honors. In addition to these, 
Dr. Papadakis acknowledged that the greatest achievements of his life 
were his marriage of 39 years to the love of his life, Elina, and the 
birth of his bright and talented daughter, Maria, a 2008 Drexel 
graduate.
  I ask that our Chamber and our Nation pause to acknowledge Dr. 
Constantine Papadakis, a master of business, engineering, and academia, 
and parenthood, who in every sense led the American Dream and created 
the conditions for untold thousands of others to do so as well.

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