Constantine "Taki" Papadakis RIP

Dr. Papadakis became Dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering during my days as a student there. I remember him as powerful, very likeable and committed to excellence. He once told me his job was to continue the College's tradition of greatness so that industry would regard students like me as "elite and valuable." He died Sunday night of complications from lung cancer. He was 63.

He certainly fulfilled his charge. While at UC, he built top-quality graduate programs, more than quadrupled research contracts and grants and established relationships with leaders of local industry. During his tenure he increased the size of the faculty from 94 to 170 and commissioned architect Michael Graves to design a research center which was completed in 1995. Cooperative education, founded at UC by Dean Herman Schneider in 1906, flourished under his leadership. His work earned him national renown, and he was recruited to become Drexel's President.

Drexel Univeristy, Philadelphis, PA, 1995-Present
During his tenure, Papadakis has leveraged the historic strengths of the University (co-operative education, a focus on technology and the rich resources of its Philadelphia location) to...

• double full-time undergrad enrollment from 4,500 in 1996 to more than 12,000;
• triple freshman applications;
• quadruple the endowment from $90 million to more than $500 million; and
• quintuple research funding.

Today, Drexel educates 17,500 students, is the sixth largest private employer in Philadelphia employing more than 5,000 people and has an annual budget of more than $572 million. His $805,000 salary was the sixth highest among university presidents. Clearly he was worth every nickel of it.

Papadakis received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the National Technical University in Greece. He held a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He was a professional engineer registered in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Greece.

Papadakis also once headed the civil engineering department at Colorado State University and was vice president of Tetra Tech Inc., a Honeywell subsidiary, before joining Cincinnati. He also served in several engineering positions with Bechtel Power Company beginning in 1974.

He is survived by his wife, Eliana, and daughter, Maria. Papadakis took great joy in handing Maria her bachelor's degree when she graduated from Drexel last year.

University of Cincinnati Famous Alumni

UC put up a list of famous alumni here.

My favorite is the Governor of North Mariana Islands, which is a commonwealth of the US (who knew).

UC Initiative to Reduce Violent Crime

I thought this article was interesting and am linking to it, because it is in the UC magazine, which probably doesn't have a big readership:

Researchers save lives by unlocking the street code in Cincinnati

... Dozens of young men filed into a downtown courtroom last summer. ...they were summoned as a condition of probation or parole to sit through a surprise "call-in session," ...Facing them was an assembly of men and women -- law enforcement officers, criminal justice workers, social service providers and community members --hellbent on convincing their captive audience to end the bloodshed.

Cops laid down new stiffer rules with federal sentences. Weary moms described burying sons. And social workers offered job training as a way out.

By the end of the tense session, the message seemed to penetrate. Dead stares at the wall and blank looks at the floor gave way to more respectful glances, even full attention. A few in the benches actually broke down in tears. And afterward, astonishingly, the phones started ringing from those who wanted out.

... most shocking was the sheer number ready to give up their hardened ways. Experts who had implemented similar initiatives in other cities cautioned Cincinnati to expect a handful, at best, to take such positive steps.

... "When they come into these call-ins they are tough. They have this street image -- like this is 'BS' or they can't be bothered.

"Then the mothers (of the dead) speak. And you can see them hang their heads. They know. They can't escape the honesty of what these people are saying. "You can see their tears, especially when they say to them, 'Don't let this be your mother. This is the pain that's left behind.'"

... UC researchers ... have developed social networking models that pinpoint 67 different violent street groups in the city. ... data now allows researchers to literally generate a map of bad guys and "who has a beef with whom."

... the majority of the Queen City's killings have more to do with respect than drugs. ... the community can curb the number of homicides by disrupting the group dynamic that promotes a violent response as the method for addressing disrespect.

... what seems to set the Cincinnati method apart is its "carrot." CIRV relies heavily on social services and the community to reach troubled men who need a way out.

... today, the London Metropolitan Police are implementing the Cincinnati model. Closer to home, UC researchers will soon use state funds to take the CIRV plan to eight cities across Ohio.