Born and raised in Patras, Greece, he studied communications and astronomy at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., and worked as assistant curator for education and planetarium director of the Louisiana Arts and Sciences Center. In 1973 he was invited to become the planetarium director of the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, Greece.

His combined talents of science knowledge and communication ability have allowed him to write and direct more than 200 multi-media planetarium shows and more than 350 half-hour network television science shows. He has lectured on science and communications to more than 400 groups and has written hundreds of articles and columns.

His most recent projects include a video on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, two television series (one of 24 episodes and another of 39), and two multimedia CD-ROM's, one on Planets and Satellites and another on Stars and Galaxies.

He has just finished the first two books in a series of six, recently published a major magazine article on "Wonders of the Universe," and continues to write a weekly astronomy and space page in the Ethnos Sunday newspaper.

Simopoulos served as host for a recent conference of the European Association of Astronomy Education, for which he also was elected for a new three-year term as president.

He is currently active in various projects funded by the European Economic Community that emphasize research and development of Computer Aided Interactive Multi-media programs and long distance learning.

Founder and first secretary-general of the European/Mediterranean Planetarium Association, Simopoulos is a member of the Executive Council and Fellow of the International Planetarium Society, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (U.K.), and many other professional and educational associations. In 1996 he was honored with the prestigious "Service Award" of the International Planetarium Society for his efforts and contributions to international astronomy education.

Simopoulos will lecture on "Under the Aegean Sky" from the decks of the Stella Solaris, combining star-lore, mythology and ancient civilizations with the majesty of the skies. As the sun sets, you can join Simopoulos on deck to search for the elusive green flash, watch for Perseid meteors, and witness the starry grandeur that graces the skies from the unequalled vantage point of a ship at sea.

Ted Pedas, Dennis Simopoulos, Eleni Simopoulos and Stephanie Pedas
aboard Stella Solaris's Voyages of Antiquity cruises.