CRETE Magazines Oct. 2014 | Page 11

ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ PHTH Magazine would like to welcome its newest editorial board member Sophia Metzakis Laszlo. She will be assisting with editing and translating articles in Greek for the magazine. Sophia Metzakis Sophia was born in Sitia, but lived Laszlo in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, where she graduated from the local high school. She moved to Athens, and graduated from the Institute of the American Union where she ultimately obtained the highest certification for English language and culture studies. She was a student at Panteion University where she studied Political Science, Public Administration and obtained a Ph.D. in administrative law. She was also a student of Goethe Institute for German Language and Culture. She worked in Civilian Pay, Department of the Air Force, 7206th Support Group, Athinai Air Base. She met her husband Richard in the accounting and finance office where they worked together, and they were married in the “Metamorphosis” Orthodox Church in Kallithea, Athens. They moved to the United States and lived for a few months in Dearborn, Michigan, to look for work in the area. Their job searches led them to Mobile, Alabama, where Sophia first worked as a substitute teacher and then proceeded to teach Greek in the Continuing Education Department at the University of South Alabama. Later, she continued teaching in the Department of Foreign Languages and in the international studies Department. She taught courses on Greek language and culture to students working on a minor in this field. One International Studies course was taught in Greece during the summer term. She worked a total of 15 years in the University of South Alabama. In 1993, she started working for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., translation division. Subsequently she became a contractor interpreter, escort, and examiner for the translation division and also an English officer. Sophia has written bilingual poetry and a textbook in English of customs and traditions of Greece. In addition, she belongs to several associations for Hellenic professors, including the committee to return the Acropolis marbles back to Athens and the Nikos Kazantzakis Association, based in Geneva, Switzerland. She is also a member of the PAA chapter and a trustee of the Foundation SAMARIA in Atlanta, Georgia. Sophia has been married to Richard for 44 years, and they have one son named Joseph, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Laura and their three children. K U P D AT E New Editorial Board Member K