Webster Mourns Webster Athens Rector Vasilis J. Botopoulos

August 28, 2026

The Webster community mourns the passing of Webster Athens Rector and Managing Director, Professor Vasilis J. Botopoulos.

Botopoulos served Webster Athens as its inaugural rector and managing director since 2014, leading with integrity, dedication and a deep commitment to education and students. A respected academic leader, Botopoulos dedicated more than three decades to advancing American higher education in Greece.

"Vasilis has spent over a decade building something rare at Webster Athens, a campus that reflects his and Webster's own character: rigorous, warm and deeply rooted in place, time and opportunity," said Ryan Guffey, executive vice president of Webster International.

Webster administration and leadership are working closely with the Athens campus to ensure the continuity of campus operations.

"What strikes me most is his instinct for stewardship - the sense that a university is something you're entrusted with, not something you simply run," Guffey added. "Webster Athens today, and everyone it has shaped, carries his imprint and we couldn't be prouder to carry it forward." 

Prior to his role at Webster Athens, Botopolous served two decades as vice president of the University of Indianapolis in the United States, as provost and as chancellor of its Athens Campus in Greece. He was an associate faculty member at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in math, statistics, operations and business.

Botopoulos served as a board member to various organizations, including the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Board of Directors and the ACBSP European Operations Executive Advisory Board, the Association of American Colleges in Greece (AACG), the Euro Mediterranean Academy of Arts and Sciences (EMAAS), the Webster University Geneva Foundation Board and the International Advisory Board of the Research Institute of European American Studies (RIEAS). He also served three times as ACBSP's International Region president and chair of the ACBSP Council of Regional Presidents.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Metropolitan Church of Saint Basil in Tripoli, Arcadia, Greece, Botopolous' hometown. The Webster community joins Webster Athens in extending condolences to Botopolous' wife, daughters and all his family and loved ones.

Tags:

• athens
• international programs

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