With Athens MSIN Reunion, the INI Recognizes 20+ Years of Global Programs

On Sunday, June 21, Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis, director of the Information Networking Institute (INI), held the second reunion of Athens alumni and faculty since the program’s original inception in 2002. Representatives from across the program’s history gathered at Asteria in Athens, Greece, to reconnect.  

"Building the Athens program was my first project with the INI, and it was Carnegie Mellon’s first degree offered entirely internationally,” said Dr. Haritos Tsamitis. “In many ways, it represented a new era of growth and global connection for the CMU community that has continued to expand over the last two decades.” 

The INI partnered with Athens Information Technology (AIT), a nonprofit education and research institute, to bring its flagship M.S. in Information Networking (MSIN) program to Greece. This was a brand-new endeavor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), which had never before offered a degree to an international audience in another country. 

Before becoming INI Director, Dr. Haritos Tsamitis played a key role in bringing this program to Athens, taking the initial steps to build a global community. Her efforts to forge a strong partnership with AIT led to a nine-year collaboration, graduating over 160 Athens MSIN alumni. 

As part of the program, the first cohort of 30 Athens students traveled to Pittsburgh during the summer before their first and second years. While in Pittsburgh, students engaged in a project-based course taught by School of Computer Science (SCS) professor Peter Steenkiste. Funding for this course was provided by the late trustee John Rangos. Following this visit, six Pittsburgh students returned with their Athens classmates for the latter part of the summer. 

In 2004, this inaugural cohort took part in the first CMU graduation ceremony outside of the United States. Following the success of the Athens program, the INI launched MSIN programs in Kobe, Japan, and Aveiro and Lisbon, Portugal.  

In 2008, the INI hosted its first global orientation, designed to strengthen connections between incoming MSIN students across the globe and CMU. Destination 2008 brought together incoming students from Japan, Portugal, Greece and the U.S. to meet and begin their INI journey in Pittsburgh. The first global INI diploma ceremony followed in 2009.  

2027 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Athens MSIN program, bringing an opportunity to gather global INI alumni for an updated "Destination 2027." Still in development, this alumni reunion will strengthen connections among INI graduates around the world.

If you are a graduate of the INI's global programs and interested in shaping Destination: Athens 2027, please reach out: ini-communications@andrew.cmu.edu.