Andreas Dracopoulos elected to Board of Trustees

by TALLEY HENNING BROWN

Andreas Dracopoulos, a director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, is the newest addition to The Rockefeller University Board of Trustees. A longtime supporter of the university’s Women & Science program and other initiatives, Mr. Dracopoulos was elected to the Board on March 12.

Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Mr. Dracopoulos came to the United States in 1982 to attend The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1986 with a B.S. in economics, he worked briefly with Salomon Brothers, a Wall Street investment bank, until he left to join the family business. He is now a director of the Niarchos Family Trust and the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation, both established by his great-uncle, the late Stavros Spyros Niarchos, a Greek shipping magnate considered one of the 20th century’s most successful international businessmen. The Niarchos Foundation has a particular interest in promoting Greek cultural heritage, but a large part of its business is international, providing grants to organizations around the world to help provide equal access to opportunity in education, social welfare, health and arts and culture.

The Dracopoulos/Niarchos family has known David Rockefeller for many years and Mr. Dracopoulos is also a good friend of Board Vice Chair Richard Salomon. In 2001 and again in 2006, the Niarchos Foundation made grants to the Women & Science initiative. Last year, Mr. Dracopoulos facilitated a $3 million collaborative gift from the foundation to Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, for the purchase of core equipment. His invitation to join the Board came last fall, after Mr. Salomon arranged a lunch meeting between Mr. Dracopoulos, President Paul Nurse and Board Chair Russell Carson.

“Andreas is an exceptionally bright and able young man,” says Mr. Salomon. “He is a superb investor, with a keen strategic eye. He has a wide range of personal interests and associations, ranging from contemporary art to education to international relations and, of course, to science, where he is especially concerned with issues of bioethics and biotechnology. I believe Andreas will become an engaged and generous member of the Rockefeller community, and I am absolutely delighted he has agreed to join our board.”

Along with his work at the Niarchos Foundation, Mr. Dracopoulos is a trustee of the New York Public Library, a member of the advisory board of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, the international advisory council of the Hospital for Special Surgery, the international council of the Museum of Modern Art and the international council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Hellenic Community of Astoria’s Odyssey Award, in recognition of his contribution toward the promotion of Greek learning.

Mr. Dracopoulos resides in New York City. “I am fortunate to have benefited from my acquaintances at The Rockefeller University over many years, and I look forward to being a part of the effort to provide a conducive environment for research for the benefit of humanity,” says Mr. Dracopoulos.