George Perdikaris
This Tribute is about our father George Perdikaris who left the village of Kalamitisi, Lefkada, to come to America for an education.
Dad graduated from the Lefkada high school in June 1959 and was offered a scholarship by Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. He left Greece on December 22, 1959, aboard the Italian ocean liner Saturnia with only $100 in his pocket. After a stormy 13-day voyage, which consisted of macaroni and spaghetti for breakfast lunch and dinner, the ship made a brief stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Dad spent $20 of his $100 at a restaurant because, like most passengers, he got sea sick and had not eaten anything for several days. Finally, the ship arrived in New York on January 4, 1960.
From New York, he took the night train to Chicago, arriving at the Union Station where he was met by a distant uncle Sam Macres, who visited Lefkada in June, 1959, for the first time after 59 years in America. One day in June, 1959, my Dad met Mr. Macres who told him that his son had just gotten married and there was a room available in his attic. If you wish, Mr. Macres said to our Dad, you can come to Chicago and stay with us for a while.
Mr. Macres helped Dad find his first job washing dishes in a restaurant at the south side of Chicago. Dad was then making 50 cents per hour when the minimum wage was a $1.25. Shortly after a month, he was promoted to assistant chef and then chef, but at the same pay. He quit after a few months and moved on.
While attending Roosevelt as a full time student, he worked in restaurants and as an elevator operator, first at the Sherman House and later at the Blackstone Hotel. He told us that while working at the Blackstone, he met several Hollywood stars that often stayed there but what he remembers fondly was meeting jazz great Duke Ellington who would send him out for a sandwich that cost 75 cents and would ask him to keep the change from a $5 bill.
He spent the first semester at Roosevelt studying English, which he did not speak at first, and then went on to study pre-engineering. In1963, he transferred to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with full tuition scholarship. He completed the Bachelors in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) degree in June 8, 1965, and two days later he started working for General Electric in Bloomington, Illinois.
A few months later, his Greek passport was about to expire and was told by the Greek authorities that his options were to either return to Greece and serve in the military or go back to school. GE also told him that if he completed his MSEE (masters) within a year, his job would be waiting for him. So, Dad decided to go to the University of Missouri-Columbia where he was offered a full tuition scholarship and a Research Assistantship. He finished his MSEE in 9 months and returned to his old job at GE. After a year at GE, he returned to the University of Missouri-Columbia to study for his Doctorate (PhD), which he completed in June 1970.
In June 1970, Dad accepted an academic position with the then relatively new University of Wisconsin-Parkside (UW-P) campus in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It was this same year that Dad met our mother, Georgia Karnezis, who was pursuing her studies in Education at Loyola University of Chicago. Our mother also came to America by ship. She was eight years old when she arrived at the Port of New York on November 5, 1956, with her mother and siblings aboard the ship Queen Frederica. They were going to Chicago to meet my grandfather who had come to America earlier in 1950.
Our mother graduated from Loyola University with a Bachelors degree in Education and became an Elementary school teacher. While working and raising a family, she also earned a Masters in Education degree from National Louis University. Mom will retire in June, 2011, after 35 years of teaching.
During Dad’s long academic career of forty (40) years, he was one of only two UW-P faculty members honored by the Board of Regents with the prestigious Award of UW-System WisconsinDistinguished Professor “in recognition of his scholarship and research in areas that aid the economic development of the State of Wisconsin”. He was also honored by being granted the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Milwaukee Section Annual (1994) Award “in recognition of his contribution to engineering knowledge and education and his ability to put ideas to work”.
In addition to his university duties, Dad consulted for and did joint research with several area companies, including Rockwell/AB, Eaton Corporation, Johnson Controls, and Unico, Inc. These university-industry relationships proved mutually beneficial for both the companies and the university. The university received donations of much needed modern equipment and funds and the companies had direct access to qualified graduates and to relevant research results and applications.
Dad was a leading contributor in the establishment of computer science and computer engineering programs at UW-P. He has produced several applied-research publications and is the author of the high-tech book Computer Controlled Systems: Theory and Applications, which has been used by both university students as well as by scientists and engineers in several automation industries.
As long as we can remember, our parents have always instilled in us the importance of education, which makes us grateful for the American Dream not only giving the immigrants of America economic but also educational opportunities, as it did for our father and mother.
We congratulate you Dad for your 40 years as a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and your reaching Emeritus Professor status. We also congratulate you mom on your long and rewarding career as a teacher. Also, we congratulate you on your upcoming 40th Anniversary and wish you both a long and happy retirement.
With love, your three kids, Tia, Christina, Tommy & your four grand-children George, Athan, Athena, and Stella.
