The Paul Sarbanes '54 Fund for Hellenism and Public Service Celebrates Ten Years

Dec. 20, 2024

By Catherine Curan 

Founded in fall 2014, the Paul Sarbanes '54 Fund for Hellenism and Public Service advances Princeton's longstanding traditions of teaching and research in Hellenic studies and public service.

This year, the Sarbanes Fund has celebrated its first decade in the service of its core mission: teaching, research and public service on campus and in Greece. Since 2014, the Sarbanes Fund has supported classroom learning by over 300 students, research by 25 scholars, internships for 30 students, and nearly 100 events attended by over 1,600 people. The fund's work strengthens ties between its codirectors, the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and between Princeton and Greece.

The fund commemorates the late Paul Sarbanes, Class of 1954, a second-generation Greek American and long-serving U.S. Senator. At Princeton, Sarbanes concentrated in SPIA (then known as the Woodrow Wilson School), cultivating his appreciation of Hellenism and service, core values that his family cherished.

“In 2014, we established the Paul Sarbanes Fund for Hellenism and Public Service. Codirected by the Seeger Center and SPIA, the fund honors Senator Sarbanes’s legacy in government and civil society, in America and Greece. The fund fosters research and teaching on international relations and public policy topics related to Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean,” said Dimitri Gondicas, director of the Seeger Center. 

As the fund enters its second decade, new initiatives are coming online. Last month, the Seeger Center and SPIA announced a new graduate fellowship for midcareer Greek professionals in public service, which will cover the full cost of the one-year SPIA Master in Public Policy program for the 2025-26 academic year. In addition, programs to deepen partnerships on campus and in Greece, expand academic offerings, and enhance connections with scholarly networks are in development.

For Maria Kotsoni, a scholar of public law, a 2024-25 postdoctoral research fellowship in Hellenic studies and public and international affairs supported by the Sarbanes Fund has ushered in a period of deep intellectual engagement and productivity. Kotsoni earned her Ph.D. in law at the European University Institute in 2023. Since arriving at Princeton last September, Kotsoni has presented her research at the Seeger Center and developed and finalized several writing projects.

"In today's academic environment, this time and space to think and write is a luxury," said Kotsoni. She added that a joint appointment with the Seeger Center and SPIA immerses her “in an intellectual environment where law is done in a way that is informed by politics, sociology and other disciplines, which has been very inspiring.”

a group of people sitting at a conference table.

Maria Kotsoni, the 2024-25 postdoctoral research fellow in Hellenic studies and public and international affairs, shares her research at the Seeger Center.

The Sarbanes Fund also supports visits to Princeton by scholars and public servants for lectures, collaboration and intellectual exchange. In Greece, the fund supports University activities, many of which are based at the Princeton Athens Center, and fosters the academic careers of Greek students.

In 2023, Paul Sarbanes' son, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.), visited the Princeton Athens Center to lecture on "Bolstering America's Democratic Institutions in the Face of Rising Authoritarianism." A member of the Class of 1984, John Sarbanes was one of the first undergraduate students in Princeton's Program in Hellenic Studies and is a founder of the Sarbanes Fund. He began serving in the House of Representatives in 2007, chairing the Democracy Reform Task Force. In fall 2023, Sarbanes announced plans to leave Congress at the end of his current term.

John Sarbanes returned to Princeton last October for the 2024 Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium, hosted by the Seeger Center. At the welcome ceremony, Sarbanes spoke about Princeton Hellenic studies and the values of Hellenism and service that have inspired the Sarbanes family.

He shared an excerpt from a March 1952 letter his grandfather, Spyros Sarbanes, wrote to Paul Sarbanes during his sophomore year, celebrating and encouraging his son's expanding intellectual horizons at Princeton.

“'As time goes on, you are growing broader and deeper in your sympathy and understanding for your immediate people, the Greek people, Hellenists, and it seems to be spreading out to cover humanity also. Keep it up, son, for therein lies a deeper, richer and a more keenly sensitive life for you. A selfish life is a barren, fruitless existence.'”

John Sarbanes added, “What my grandfather was saying was reach out, volunteer, serve, lift up others. That is the key to a fulfilled life.”

Political scientist Eleftheria Vagionaki came to the Seeger Center in fall 2023 as a postdoctoral research fellow in Hellenic studies and public and international affairs, supported by the Sarbanes Fund, and her appointment was then extended for a second year. At Princeton, Vagionaki relished the opportunity to present her work to scholars at the Seeger Center and SPIA.

“The constructive and supportive feedback has been a highly motivating force to further pursue my research in contemporary Greek policymaking with emphasis on … expert knowledge, policy learning, innovation policies, and collaborative governance in the E.U. and U.S.,” said Vagionaki. 

  A man and a woman standing together in an office lobby.

Seeger Center Director Dimitri Gondicas and political scientist Eleftheria Vagionaki at the Center. Photo by Catherine Curan.

Amid numerous, significant elections worldwide, the fund has sponsored talks by leading scholars of politics and international affairs. The roster included a discussion last May in Athens by Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of think tank New America, Andrew Moravcsik, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton, and Loukas Tsoukalis, president of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), about the U.S. presidential election and European Parliament elections.

Three people sitting on a stage talking.

 Andrew Moravcsik, Anne-Marie Slaughter and Loukas Tsoukalis discuss the U.S. presidential election and European Parliament elections at an event in Athens supported by the Sarbanes Fund.

Last October, Harold James, the Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies at Princeton, led a discussion on campus. Sophie Meunier, a senior research scholar at SPIA; Jean-Pierre Landau, an associated professor and researcher at Sciences Po; Markus K. Brunnermeier, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor in Princeton’s economics department; Grigore Pop-Eleches, a professor of politics and international affairs at SPIA and the Department of Politics; and Federico Fabbrini, a full professor of European law at the School of Law & Government of Dublin City University, examined the transformative impact of elections in France, Germany and Eastern Europe and for the European Parliament.

In his closing remarks, James highlighted the resilience of democracy in Greece.

Four men and one woman standing in a lecture hall.

Jean-Pierre Landau, Federico Fabbrini, Sophie Meunier, Harold James and Grigore Pop-Eleches at a European democracy roundtable discussion supported by the Sarbanes Fund. Photo by Catherine Curan.