The Corresponding Member of Komvos was honoured in Rhodes by the Pan-Rhodian Society of America “Apollon”
Yannis Yortsos, Chester Dolley Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California (USC) and a Corresponding Member of Komvos, was named “Rhodian of the Year 2026” by the Pan-Rhodian Society of America “Apollon”.
The award was presented during the Society’s annual pre-convention in Monolithos, Rhodes. The USC Viterbi School of Engineering lists it among Yortsos’s significant honours for 2026, while the event in Rhodes highlighted his contributions to engineering, higher education and the Greek diaspora.
The title “Rhodian of the Year” is awarded by the organised Rhodian diaspora to individuals with a distinguished record of achievement and service. For Yortsos, the honour also has a personal dimension, as he was born and raised in Rhodes and graduated from Venetokleio.
From Rhodes to Caltech and USC
Yannis Yortsos’s journey began in Rhodes and continued at the National Technical University of Athens, where he graduated from the School of Chemical Engineering in 1973. He then pursued graduate and doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), earning his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1979.
He joined the USC faculty in the late 1970s and built a long academic and administrative career. He has held the Chester Dolley Professorship since 1995 and served as Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering from 2005 to 2026.
His research focuses on fluid flow, transport and reaction in porous media, with applications in subsurface systems, energy and environmental processes. His work also extends to engineering education and the connections between engineering and broader social and technological challenges.
How has engineering education changed?
As Dean of USC Viterbi, Yortsos developed the Engineering+ approach, based on the idea that engineering connects with an increasing number of scientific disciplines and societal needs.
In 2009, he co-founded the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program, which was subsequently adopted by more than 100 engineering schools worldwide. For this initiative, he and three colleagues received the National Academy of Engineering’s Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education in 2022.
His educational work also includes initiatives to promote interdisciplinary learning and broaden participation in engineering schools. In 2024, USC Viterbi established its new School of Advanced Computing, as part of its wider strategy to connect engineering with digital technologies and computing.
An international academic presence
Yannis Yortsos was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2008 and as a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens in 2013. He is also a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and, since 2022, Editor-in-Chief of PNAS Nexus, the interdisciplinary scientific journal of the US National Academies.
His honours include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, ABET’s Claire Felbinger Award and the 2025 Duncan Fraser Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education. The National Technical University of Athens has also decided to award him an honorary doctorate from its School of Chemical Engineering, recognising his international contributions to science and engineering education.
Why does the Rhodes honour hold particular significance?
Yannis Yortsos’s recognition as “Rhodian of the Year 2026” has a distinct place among his previous academic and scientific honours. It comes from the organised Rhodian diaspora and connects his international career with his place of origin.
The Pan-Rhodian Society of America “Apollon” held its pre-convention in Monolithos, with a programme bringing together science, education and the diaspora. Yortsos was a central figure in the event, as a Greek diaspora scientist with a long career at a leading American university.
The award thus highlights another aspect of his journey: his continuing ties with Rhodes and the Greek diaspora, alongside an academic career spanning almost five decades in the United States.
Yannis Yortsos and Komvos
Yannis Yortsos is a Corresponding Member of Komvos. His career connects directly with a central aim of Komvos’s mission: linking Greece with scientists and academics across the global Greek community.
His involvement in institutions such as USC, the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Athens illustrates the role the Greek scientific diaspora can play in sharing knowledge, building international networks and shaping contemporary approaches to education.
His recognition as “Rhodian of the Year 2026” adds an honour rooted in the diaspora itself, symbolically bringing his journey back to the place where it began.
