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 Center, and is also Course Tutor for the HND Travel and Tourism Management programme.

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.

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 Center. He is the Food & Beverage Service Manager at Alpine as well as a lecturer.

Dr Nikos Kouremenos :  Dr Nikos Kouremenos is an experienced business consultant and executive in the field of health and sports club management. Among his numerous achievements, he is the founder and managing director of a consulting and training company specialising in the service, sports and leisure industry; he is the master franchisee and managing director of a worldwide fitness club chain for Greece and Cyprus; and he has been the fitness editor for Vita magazine for the past 14 years. His international studies at BA, MSc and PhD level in Greece and Sweden range from marketing management to sports education and exercise science, while he has participated in numerous professional training and development activities, including the Dale Carnegie courses ‘Leadership training for managers’, ‘World-class customer service’, ‘High-impact presentations’ etc. Having been a professional athlete for many years, Dr Kouremenos is still an avid squash and tennis player. At Alpine he teaches ‘Strategic Human Resources Management’ and ‘Applied Leadership’ in the Master’s programme, and ‘Fundamentals of Exercise Science’ in the Swiss Diploma in Spa Management programme.

Ms Filio Lazana :  Ms Lazana is an expert in Business Tourism and Events Management with significant experience in both academia and the tourism industry. Originally educated at Master’s level as a translator in France, she worked as an interpreter at international conferences and started her involvement in the organisation of events and conventions. She then studied for a second Master’s in Tourism Management at the University of Westminster in the UK, where she also taught at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels on the subjects of business travel and languages. She is currently a PhD candidate with the same university in Tourism Business. Ms Lazana was appointed General Manager of the Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organisers (HAPCO) – a position she held for two years before devoting herself fully to education. Having held lecturing positions in several private and public educational institutes, Ms Lazana has taught on subjects such as Convention, Event and Exhibition Management, Event Planning, Sport Facilities Management, Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism, Special Effects in Convention and Event Management etc., and is author of the book ‘Introduction to Business Tourism’. Since joining Alpine she has continued to expand her knowledge and networks in the field while teaching on several events-related modules and developing Alpine’s Distance Learning course in Events and Conventions. Ms Lazana speaks fluent English, French and Spanish, as well as basic-level Italian.

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 Center 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. .

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 Center, 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.

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.

Chef Paul Simotopoulos :  Chef Simotopoulos received a Certificate in Culinary Arts with honours from Alpine Center 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 Center 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.

Katy Taveira:  Ms Katy Taveira has studied International Business and Tourism in Canada and Greece, and graduated with Distinction from Alpine Center’s own Master’s programme in International Hospitality and Tourism Leadership in 2006. Ms Taveira’s work experience started in the food and hotel industries, but she soon specialised in hospitality operations management in the Cruise Ship sector, with a career spanning many years and involving many supervisory and managerial positions aboard different vessels of the Celebrity Cruises line-up. More specifically, Ms Taveira has worked as Guest Relations Officer, Training and Development Manager, Account Purser and Front Office Manager in cruise ships with an occupancy of approximately 2,500 guests, and has been consistently awarded distinctions including ‘employee of the month’ and ‘shining star manager of the year’ throughout her career. After eight years she was offered the position of Hotel Director with Celebrity Cruises but that was the time she had decided to quit the ‘seas’ and return to land to start a family. At Alpine she assisted with the design and development of the Cruise Ship Hospitality Operations course and is now the Course Tutor where she teaches a number of specialist modules on the cruise industry, customer service and front office operations.

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.

Chef Stefano Zamboni  Chef Stefano Zamboni has amassed vast and truly international professional experience as a head chef, production manager, consultant and culinary instructor in many countries such as Spain, Germany, Tunisia, Mexico, Brazil, the Turk and Caico islands, Thailand, Japan and his native Italy. Chef Stefano Zamboni has received prizes and awards in international culinary competitions. At Alpine, he is the Executive Chef and teaches ‘Food Production Theory’, ‘Advanced Culinary Techniques’, ‘Food Commodities & Culinary Principles’, and ‘Food Science, Hygiene and HACCP’.