Michel Dimou, Professor of Economics, University of Toulon, France

https://lead.univ-tln.fr/dimou-michel/

Michel Dimou is Full Professor of Economics at the University of Toulon, France, and a leading scholar in spatial and urban economics. His research focuses on urban growth, regional inequalities, migration, residential mobility, and the economic dynamics of coastal and island territories. He is a Fellow of the Institut Convergences Migrations.

Professor Dimou has published extensively in leading journals such as Papers in Regional Science, Regional Studies, Annals of Regional Science, and Applied Economics. He has served as President of the French-speaking Regional Science Association (ASRDLF) and as Editor-in-Chief of Région et Développement.

An internationally invited keynote speaker, he regularly contributes to academic and policy debates across Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean on regional development, urban transitions, and demographic change.

  

Psillaki Maria, Professor of Banking and Finance, University of Piraeus, Greece

https://www.unipi.gr/en/people/psillaki-maria/

Maria Psillaki is Professor at the Department of Economics of the University of Piraeus. She studied at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, in France where she received her Bachelor, Master and PhD with the highest honors. For her PhD, she received a scholarship from the French Ministry of Education.

She has held visiting research positions in London (Birkbeck College, University of London) as Visiting Researcher (Postdoctoral Research Fellow), funded by the CEPR (Centre for Economic Policy Research) and ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) and in Chicago as Visitor Researcher at the Graduate Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. She has also held visiting faculty positions at European and American universities such as the Rutgers University in New Jersey (USA), Department of Business Administration, and the University of Cyprus, Department of Public and Business Administration. Before joining the University of Piraeus in 2009, she was Associate Professor at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis in France at the Economics Department from 2001 to 2008. She has participated in various European research Programs.

She has published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Small Business Management, the European Journal of Operational Research, the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Small Business Economics, the Applied Financial Economics, the Journal of Productivity Analysis. She served as referee in a number of reputed journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Small Business Economics, the European Journal of Operational Research.

From 2009 to 2012 she was Vice President of the Hellenic Finance and Accounting Association (HFAA). Her areas of expertise are in corporate finance, and banking.

  

Manolis Kavussanos, Professor of Finance and Shipping, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece

https://www.aueb.gr/en/faculty_page/kavussanos-manolis

Professor Manolis G. Kavussanos is Professor of Finance at the Athens University of Economics and Business and a leading scholar in shipping finance, risk analysis and applied financial economics, with extensive publications in top journals such as the Journal of Banking & Finance, European Financial Management and the Journal of Futures Markets.

He is the founder and former Director (2003–2017) of the MSc in International Shipping, Finance and Management and of the Laboratory for Applied Finance at AUEB, and has also directed the MSc and PhD programs in Accounting and Finance, combining academic leadership with long-standing experience in postgraduate education and doctoral supervision.

His teaching and research portfolio covers financial derivatives, investments and portfolio management, corporate finance, shipping investments and freight derivatives, closely aligning with EBEEC’s focus on contemporary challenges in economics, finance and business in Europe and the wider region.

Having held visiting positions at leading universities worldwide and acted as expert evaluator and consultant for European and industry bodies, he brings strong international perspective and policy-relevant expertise that support EBEEC 2026’s aim to foster high-quality, interdisciplinary dialogue on regional economic and business transformation.