Wofford graduate, longtime college trustee dies at age 76
C.N. "Gus" Papadopoulos, a 1954 Wofford College graduate and longtime member of the school's board of trustees, died on Aug. 2, the school said Wednesday. He was 76.
Papadopoulos spent the last 54 years of his life based in the Houston area, where he was an anesthesiologist before entering the real-estate business.
He was active in the Wofford community, and served on the Wofford board of trustees from 1979 until 1991, and then again from 1993 to 2005. During his lifetime, he donated more than $1 million to the school, establishing the Neofytos Papadopoulos Memorial Scholarship Fund, which aids students from Greece, and helping fund the construction of the Neofytos Papadopoulos Building on campus, both named for his father.
"Gus was a transformative figure in the history of the college," Wofford President Benjamin B. Dunlap said in a statement.
Born in Kavala, Greece, Papadopoulos came to the United States at age 19 on a scholarship to attend Wofford, from which he graduated in three years. He enrolled at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and received his degree in 1958. While working as an anesthesiologist for 15 years, he also became a successful real-estate developer, a business he pursued full time starting in 1974.
He was the mayor of Hunter's Creek Village, Texas, from 1977 to 1983, and was chairman of the board of the First Bank of Houston from 1981 until 1996.
He was at his vacation home in the Cayman Islands when he died unexpectedly, the college reported.
Services will be held Saturday at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Houston. Honorary pallbearers include Dunlap and Roger Milliken.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20070810/NEWS/708100313/-1/BUSINESS
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