Andreas Loverdos
Andreas Loverdos ( ; born 15 May 1956) is a Greek politician who was Minister for Education and Religious Affairs from 2014 to 2015. Early life. Loverdos was born in Patras, Greece. He graduated from the law school of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1978. From 1978 until 1980, he fulfilled his obligatory military service in the Hellenic Air Force. In 1982, he completed postgraduate studies in European law at the Université libre de Bruxelles. During his studies, he served as vice-president of the Thessaloniki law students' union as well as president of the Greek students' association of  Belgium. In 1986, Andreas Loverdos completed his PhD at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with the thesis "Terrorism and Political Crime: Study from the Perspective of Law". In 1991, he undertook research at the London School of Economics on the function of government and in 1996 he researched the function of democratic constitutions at Boston University. Academic career. Andreas Loverdos was Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at Panteion University until 1986, when he was appointed Lecturer for the Department of Postgraduate Studies, a post he held until 1992. From 1992 until 1995, Andreas Loverdos worked as a full Professor of  Constitutional Law. He is an author of numerous articles in legal research journals. Political career. A leading cadre of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, Loverdos was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament in the 2000 legislative election. From 23 January 2002 until 10 March 2004 he served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. In October 2009, Loverdos was appointed Minister for Labour and Social Security. In September 2010, he was appointed Minister for Health and Social Solidarity. In this capacity, he launched a harsh reform of the pension system during Greece’s first bailout programme. He held this post until 17  May 2012, when the coalition government of Lucas Papademos was replaced by the caretaker government of Panagiotis Pikrammenos. On 3 December 2012, Loverdos announced the launch of a new political movement, the Radical Movement of Social Democratic Alliance (RIKSSY), and was subsequently expelled from the PASOK parliamentary group. A new political party, the Agreement for the New Greece, was formed by Loverdos and other members of RIKSSY on 15 April 2013. Loverdos returned to the government as Minister for Education and Religious Affairs on 10 June 2014, and to the PASOK parliamentary group on 22 August 2014. In this role , he was given a brief to complete an overhaul of university administration and dismiss thousands of “perpetual students” who failed to meet the 10-year deadline for obtaining a first degree. In January 2021, Loverdos was removed as the parliamentary leader of Movement for Change. Personal life. Andreas Loverdos is married to Penelope Papaioannou and has a daughter and two sons.