In a ceremony befitting the scientific career and international stature of the honouree, on Monday, 22 December 2025, in the Events Hall of the Administration Building at the Zografou Polytechnic Campus, the conferral ceremony took place for Professor Dimitris Bertsimas, an alumnus of NTUA and a distinguished Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.
The ceremony was honoured by the presence of representatives from the Scientific and Business communities, the Union of Greek Shipowners, representatives of Public Benefit Foundations, as well as former Rectors of the National Technical University of Athens. Also in attendance were numerous faculty members, researchers, and students of NTUA, as well as members of other universities across the country. Particularly notable was the participation of Amedeo Odoni, Professor at MIT, who had served as Dimitris Bertsimas’s doctoral advisor. The participation of representatives from the academic, scientific, and business communities underscored the special prestige of the event and the international reach of the honouree’s work.
The event opened with an address by the Rector of the National Technical University of Athens, Professor Ioannis K. Chatzigeorgiou, who spoke of the honouree’s international scientific influence, his decisive contribution to operations research, artificial intelligence, and data science, as well as the significance of welcoming one of the institution’s most distinguished alumni back to the Polytechnic as an honorary doctor. He noted, among other things, that the career of Dimitris Bertsimas is a living example for young men and women at the Polytechnic and throughout the country, demonstrating in practice that excellence is not a privilege of the few, but the result of systematic effort, high aspirations, and belief in the power of knowledge. He emphasised that young scientists can carve paths of international reach, starting from Greek public universities and contributing meaningfully to scientific and social progress.
In the course of his address, the Rector also referred to the strategic importance of the ongoing collaboration between the National Technical University of Athens and MIT in the field of digital education and artificial intelligence, centred on the Universal AI platform of MIT Open Learning, which is being developed under the scientific guidance of Dimitris Bertsimas. He stressed that this collaboration substantially strengthens the institution’s international outreach and creates new opportunities for the NTUA academic community, through access to cutting-edge modern educational tools and the development of interdisciplinary educational approaches that respond to the challenges of the new era.
This was followed by an address from the Dean of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Professor Panagiotis Tsanakas, who highlighted the honouree’s enduring relationship with the School and the particular symbolic significance of the conferral for the institution’s students.
Subsequently, the honouree’s remarkable journey, from NTUA to MIT, was presented by his long-time collaborator, Professor Giorgos Stamou, who noted that immediately upon receiving his doctoral degree in 1988 from MIT, he became an Assistant Professor at MIT at the age of 26 and a Full Professor at the age of 33. His research output includes more than 350 publications, 72,000 citations, and an h-index of 123, demonstrating his foundational contribution to the applications of operations research, as well as his leading role in shaping modern approaches to artificial intelligence and decision-making in critical fields. Of even greater significance, however, is his impact on the next generation of scientists, with more than 126 doctoral students, 106 of whom have already graduated.
This was followed by the investiture of the honouree and the lecture by Professor Dimitris Bertsimas entitled “A Journey from Operations Research to Artificial Intelligence and the Future”. The honouree expressed his gratitude to the NTUA administration, noting also that this is not his first honorary doctorate but it is the one closest to his heart. In his lecture, the honouree reflected on pivotal moments in his scientific career, the enduring need to connect theoretical research with practice, and the role of artificial intelligence and Universal AI in fields such as healthcare, education, and agricultural development — and above all, how artificial intelligence can be used in the personalised education of students. He concluded by thanking his students, who had turned his vision into reality together with him.
The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the NTUA Medal by the Rector to the honouree, sealing the conferral and the institution’s special tribute to his person and his work.
With the conferral of an Honorary Doctorate upon Dimitris Bertsimas, the National Technical University of Athens honours one of its most eminent alumni and simultaneously reaffirms its enduring commitment to excellence, international outreach, and the connection of scientific knowledge with the needs of contemporary society.
