Kitty Kyriacopoulos, one of the few women leaders in the manufacturing industry in Greece, passed away on May 21, at 97 years of age. She was a role model for many generations of women executives and entrepreneurs – a visionary pioneer with an entrepreneurial spirit and a source of inspiration for the business community in Greece.

A true believer in the transformative role of education for people and societies, Kitty Kyriacopoulos was a strong supporter of Alba. In 1998, together with her son Ulysses and through a generous donation, she established at Alba the “Kitty Kyriacopoulos Endowed Chair in Finance”, the first endowed Chair in Greece.

The establishment of the Endowed Chair attracted at Alba internationally renowned academics. It encouraged the development of cutting-edge knowledge through academic research and facilitated knowledge dissemination by educating business leaders.

Soon after, other eminent Greek business leaders followed suit and established endowed chairs at Alba and other institutions in the country thus attracting more international scholars, in an aim to facilitate academic research and teaching, and to help transform the Greek society.