Note to Editors: John Lymberopoulos will leave for Greece on Aug. 3, but will be reachable by phone in Greece. Contact him at (303) 492-7541 to make arrangements before Aug. 3. A photo also is available.
As the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece approach, one CU-Boulder professor is anxiously counting down the days until he leaves for his birth country to volunteer at the games he has been passionate about for more than 50 years.
Professor Emeritus P. John Lymberopoulos of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business will leave in August to serve as the Athens liaison for the United States Olympic Committee.
In 1948, when Lymberopoulos was a child growing up in Athens, his father introduced him to the Olympics by taking him to see the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece, prior to the start of the games in London. Ever since, he has had a passion for the games.
"Life stops in our household when the Olympics are on, but this year will be really meaningful," Lymberopoulos said.
Although Lymberopoulos never has competed in the Olympics, he has a deep respect for and admiration of the games and their history, he said. And with the Olympics being held in Greece this summer, he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend.
"Growing up in Greece, part of my history lessons included the Olympic Games," Lymberopoulos said. And those lessons will come in handy during his work at the 2004 Olympics, which will include serving as a translator during press conferences and as a local expert on information about Athens and Greece. As a liaison, he also will connect local citizens with visitors and participants.
While he shies away from being labeled an expert on the Olympic Games, his passion for them is difficult for him to mask.
"In the opening ceremony, Greece is always first in the parade, as an honor for having created the Olympic Games," he said. "When the Greek flag appears, I always become a little misty-eyed."
During the buildup to the 2004 games, Lymberopoulos has given a series of lectures to United States Olympic Committee members that highlight Greece's contributions to the world.
The 2004 Olympics will be the second time Lymberopoulos has volunteered his services. In 1996 he traveled to Atlanta for the summer games to serve as a translator for the Greek Olympic delegation. Locally, he became known to Denver radio listeners for his daily radio reports from the games.
While Lymberopoulos mainly worked as an interpreter at the Atlanta games, he also had the opportunity to be a peacemaker.
"After team Greece played the Yugoslavian team in basketball and lost, an athletic committee person ran up to me and said he was ready to call security because the Greek team was talking rather loudly to each other and using a lot of hand gestures," Lymberopoulos said. "So I went in and listened and returned to tell him that they were just having a lively and friendly talk among players. I don't think he believed me, but it kept him from calling security."
Lymberopoulos has lived in the United States since 1953, when he enrolled at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and later went on to complete his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. He became a U.S. citizen in 1966 and holds dual citizenship in the United States and Greece.
He has spent nearly 40 years at CU-Boulder, holding several faculty and administration positions where he now holds the position of professor emeritus of international business and finance.