Christos Papadimitriou Receives the Bodossaki Excellence Award 2026 in Technological Sciences

Christos Papadimitriou receives the Bodossaki Foundation Excellence Award 2026

Archimedes congratulates Christos Papadimitriou, Donovan Family Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University and lead researcher at Archimedes, on receiving the Bodossaki Foundation Excellence Award 2026 in the Technological Sciences category, in recognition of his internationally recognized lifetime achievements.

The award was presented by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, at a ceremony held on Thursday, 25 June 2026, at the Megaron – Athens Concert Hall. Awarded every two years, the Bodossaki Excellence Award honours Greek scientists who have devoted their lives to science and is accompanied by a prize of €100,000. The recipients are selected by the Foundation's Excellence Committee, which consists of eight internationally distinguished scientists.

Christos Papadimitriou has fundamentally shaped theoretical computer science. His early research laid the mathematical foundations of computational complexity, the rigorous study of what computers can and cannot solve efficiently, and his contributions to the theory of approximation algorithms showed how hard optimization problems can be addressed with provably near-optimal solutions. Over the past three decades, he has used the theory of computation as a lens for understanding other sciences, and he is one of the founders of algorithmic game theory, which brought rigorous computational thinking to economics and strategic behaviour. He has also brought the theory of computation to students and the wider public through his textbooks and novels.

Presenting him at the ceremony, Daniela Rus, Co-Chair of the Excellence Committee and Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), highlighted that his work has shed light on some of the most important questions in algorithms, complexity theory, optimization, game theory and artificial intelligence. These foundations continue to shape modern computer science and AI, and they inspire our entire community at Archimedes.

We also extend our warm congratulations to the co-recipient, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, William Nordhaus Professor of Economics and Global Affairs at Yale University, who was honoured in the Social Sciences category.

Learn more about the Bodossaki Excellence Award 2026:

 

 
 

The project “ARCHIMEDES Unit: Research in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Algorithms” with code OPS 5154714 is implemented by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” and is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

Greece 2.0 – Funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU