Faculty Profiles

Plato Baganis:  Mr Baganis attended the Athens School of Law and holds diplomas from IATA-UFTAA, Olympic Airways, WORLDSPAN, and Amadeus.  He was general manager of several travel and tourism enterprises in Athens before joining Alpine almost 18 years ago.  He is fluent in Greek, English, French, Arabic and Italian.  At Alpine he teaches airline and rail operations.

Eleni Binga : Ms Binga received her MBA with a Marketing specialisation from Leicester University in 2001. Her professional experience includes operational and management positions in incoming and outgoing tour operations, as well as area manager and product manager positions in both the UK and Greece. Since 1991 Ms Binga has been a lecturer in tourism management and marketing at Alpine College, and is also Course Tutor for the HND Travel and Tourism Management programme.

Luke Chow:  Mr Chow received his MBA from the University of Miami. A Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, he has held positions as Regional Operations Manager and General Manager in multinational retail companies. He has also served as principal lecturer and course leader on MBA programmes, MBA online instructor at the University of Liverpool, and centre head at the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Wales. Mr Chow is proficient in blended learning and online tutoring. At Alpine he will project manage the development and launch of the online MA programme in International Hospitality & Tourism Leadership and he will be teaching Strategic Human Resources Management and Applied Leadership at MA level.

Alan Cresswell:  Mr Cresswell has B.ED (Hons) and numerous professional certifications in teaching, hospitality, and health and safety including a Level 4 Specialist Qualification in teaching English.  He has worked as a contracts monitoring officer, training and development officer and more recently as an assessor and tutor for City Training Services.  At Alpine he is a lecturer in food science, nutrition and food production theory.

Alan Furlong:  Mr Furlong received his BA in Hotel Management from the Mayo Institute of Technology and his MBS in Tourism and Transport from University College Dublin.  He has been a restaurant manager and catering skills instructor in Ireland, and more recently a hospitality consultant in London.  He enjoys soccer, golf and hurling.  At Alpine he is the Hotel Operations Manager and also a course tutor.

Emmanouil Kaldis:Mr. Kaldis is the General Manager of Emmantina and Palmyra Beach Hotels in Glyfada. He holds a MSc in Business Information Technology from the University of Manchester where he is also a PhD candidate. He enjoys traveling, sports – especially soccer – and Greek and English literature. At Alpine, he is a lecturer in e-Business.

Anja Eva Keller: Ms Keller received her MBA at the University of Liverpool and has been in the wellness and fitness industry for a number of years as hands-on instructor as well as consultant.  She holds a Diploma in Spa and Wellness Managment and has worked in senior management positions in renowned establishments internationally.  Ms Keller is an expert at developing international educational programmes for the spa industry and serves as Spa Management course consultant and instructor at Alpine’s Spa Management Certificate online course.

Georgia Kofinas: Mrs Kofinas has a BA in History from the University of North Carolina and a USA Certificate of Secondary education.  She has been an English language teacher in Greece for the past 20 years.  She has authored and translated numerous Greek cookbooks along with being active in Greek gastronomy associations.  She has been a lecturer in Advanced Menu Planning and Food Culture at Alpine since 1999.

Joanna Kontodimou: ; Mrs Kontodimou is a housekeeping instructor at Alpine. She has over 14 years experience working in the Housekeeping Department at one of the leading hotels in Athens, and she holds an Adv. Diploma from the Tourist School of E.O.T.

Stelios Koumantakis : Mr. Koumantakis received his BA (Hon) in Hospitality Business Management and his MA in Tourism Business Administration from the University of Birmingham. He has held food and beverage manager positions at Crecotel Creta Palace, Grecotel Kos Imperial, Mandeville Hotel, UK, the Hilton London Islington and the Al Bustan Rotana Dubai. Moreover, he has lectured at Hammersmith and West London College. He is the Food & Beverage Service Manager at Alpine as well as a lecturer.

Dr Michael M. Lefever, PhD, FIH: Dr Lefever received his BA with Honors and MA in Psychology from the University of California-Davis and his PhD in Psychology from La Jolla.  He has been a professor, director and dean at Purdue University, University of Houston, University of Massachusetts/Amherst and Georgia State University, and was executive editor and publisher of several leading tourism/business research journals. Dr Lefever also has 20 years industry experience as president/CEO of a multi-unit restaurant company in California and vice president of a Boston subsidiary of Compass Ltd/London.  After 10 years of service to Alpine College as a member of the board of directors and as academic dean, and a total of 25 years of service to the profession of higher education, Dr Lefever has been appointed Professor Emeritus for his outstanding contributions. .

Chef Rudolf Luetolf: Chef Luetolf is a Certified Hospitality educator (CHE) and has held the position of Pastry Chef at leading hotels in Switzerland, Thailand, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.  He also has served as a Senior Food Lecturer at IHTTI-Switzerland and University Center Cesar Ritz-Switzerland.  Chef Luetolf led the kitchen department of the House of Switzerland during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.  He currently is Executive Chef/Instructor at Alpine.

Yiannis Megaloeconomou: Mr Megaloeconomou obtained both his BA in Business Administration/Management and MBA in Finance from Saint Xavier University’s Graham School of Management in Chicago, Illinois.  In September 1998, Mr Megaloeconomou returned to Athens and took up his first lecturing position at ICON International Training Ltd, teaching modules on the University of Leicester and University of Surrey’s MBA and Msc programmes.  At Alpine College, Mr Megaloeconomou is lecturer in Accounting and Finance on the MA, BA(Hons), Swiss Diploma and HND programmes.

Scott Morse: : Mr. Morse received his BSBA degree in Business Administration in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management from the University of Denver, Colorado. While working in the hospitality industry in the USA for over 22 years, Mr. Morse acquired a wide range of knowledge and experience. He has worked for a variety of major hotel and restaurant chains as a trainer, a food and beverage manager and a front office manager. The chains include Disneyland Hotels and Resorts, Hilton, Starwood – Sheraton Hotels, and Houston’s Restaurant. Scott Morse has extensive teaching experience in hospitality and related fields. At Alpine, he is course tutor for the Spa Management Course.

Aggelos Panayiotopoulos: Mr Panayiotopoulos received his MSc in Tourism Policy and Management from the University of Birmingham.  He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Research Methodology from the University of Brighton, where he is currently a PhD candidate.  Mr Panayiotopoulos has presented at several conferences and his research interests include epistemological and methodological issues in social sciences and, in particular, hospitality and tourism research.  He has served as module tutor at the University of Brighton for five years.  At Alpine he is teaching research-related modules at all levels and Tourism Planning and Development at BA level.

Dr Georgios Papageorgiou:  :  Dr Papageorgiou received his MSc and PhD in Tourism Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham.  He has served as a lecturer and programme leader in tourism at the University of Surrey.  Dr Papageorgiou has published numerous research articles and is very active in professional associations. He also worked as Olympic and Paralympic Resident Centres Supervisor in the Athens 2004 Olympic Village.  His hobbies include music, photography and cycling.  At Alpine he is Academic Dean, course tutor for the BA and MA programmes and lecturer in management and marketing.

Jean-Pierre Perpinias :  Mr Perpinias was educated in Brussels at the Institut Provencial des Industries Alimentaires et du Tourisme.  Since 1980 he has been Sales Manager and General Manager of several prestigious hotels in Greece including Athenaeum Intercontinental, Astir Palace and Grecotel Vouliagmenis Suites.  He speaks five languages:  Greek, French, English, German and Italian, and spends much of his free time sailing.

Chef Paul Simotopoulos :  Chef Simotopoulos received a Certificate in Culinary Arts with honours from Alpine College and took his practical training at the Windermere Hydro Hotel in the UK.  He has since worked as a Sous Chef with Sofitel Hotels in Athens and Chicago.  Chef Simotopoulos has achieved numerous awards in Greek culinary competitions and in Sofitel culinary events.

Lambrini Philippatos :  Ms Philippatos received her MA in English Language Teaching and her BA in English Language and Linguistics from the University of Essex.  She has served in academic teaching positions for over 11 years and she is an oral examiner for the Universities of Cambridge and Michigan in Greece.  Ms Philippatos was Head of the English Department at SBS College and is very active in professional associations of teachers of English as a foreign language.  At Alpine she is the course tutor for the Foundation programme and teaches all English language modules.

Chef Paul Simotopoulos : Chef Simotopoulos received a Certificate in Culinary Arts with honours from Alpine College and took his practical training at the Windermere Hydro Hotel in the UK.  He has since worked as a Sous Chef with Sofitel Hotels in Athens and Chicago.  Chef Simotopoulos has achieved numerous awards in Greek culinary competitions and in Sofitel culinary events.

Pantelis Zafiriou:  Mr Zafiriou received his BA degree in business management from T.E.I. University in Athens, and he is a Certified Hospitality Instructor (CHI).  He has worked as a hospitality instructor at Clark County Skills Center in Vancouver, Washington.  He also was a multi-unit manager for Bon Appetit Management Company in Seattle.  At Alpine he is course tutor for events and conventions management and lecturer in product design and development.