Athanasios PAPAIOANNOU, Professor, Director
Athanasios Papaioannou is Professor of Sport Psychology and Director of the Master’s program in Psychology of Exercise. In addition, he is the coordinator for the university of Thessaly of the Erasmus Mundus programme “European Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology”. He holds a Diploma in Physical Education and Sport Science from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an MPhil in Psychology of Physical Activity from the university of Manchester and a PhD in Psychology in Education and Sport from the university of Manchester. In 2001 he was elected member of the Managing Council of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP), in 2013 he was elected the Vice-president of ISSP while in 2005-2009 he has been the Treasurer of this organization. He was the Director of the 10th World Congress of Sport Psychology, Skiathos, 28 May – 2 June 2001. He is the past president of the Greek Society of Sport Psychology and Vice-president of the Hellenic Academy of Physical Education. He is editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (IJESP) and he has been member of the Editorial Board of various journals. Professor Papaioannou has been the scientific coordinator of national and European projects aiming to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles of children and adolescents. He recently co-edited the Routledge Companion of Sport and Exercise Psychology with Dieter Hackfort, while he co-authored 3 books in the area of psychology and physical education, 2 books for public education in Greece and more than 100 articles in journals and congress proceedings in the areas of motivational climate and goal orientations, self-regulation and health-related behaviours. He has been invited speaker for the topic of motivation in sport and exercise in several international and national congresses. He lectures at the European Master’s in Sport & Exercise Psychology for several years and in 2007 he organized the intensive course of this programme. He is married with a young daughter and he likes jogging.
