The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics is one of the four departments of Harokopio University. Harokopio University bears the name of the Kefalonian benefactor Panagis Harokopos (1835-1911). Harokopos, among other things, was very interested in women’s education and envisioned a School that would train women in various aspects of home economics and management of daily life, including nutrition. The Harokopios School was founded in 1914 and its building was erected on a 20-acre plot of land in Kallithea. In practice, the School started operating in 1929, as a legal entity under private law under the supervision of the Minister of Education, and in 1931 it became a public school. Three years later the School became the Higher School of Home Economics, and in 1951 it was renamed the Harokopios Higher School of Home Economics.
In 1982 a second direction of study was created, that of Dietetics, alongside the original direction of Education, while in 1984 it began to accept male students.
Harokopio University was founded in 1991 in the premises of the Harokopio School of Home Economics, which ceased to operate. In 1992 the “Department of Dietetics” was established and the first students were enrolled in 1994. In 1999 the Department was renamed “Department of Dietetics – Nutrition Science” and in 2013 it became part of the “School of Health Sciences and Education” of Harokopio University. Since the academic year 2000-2001, a full-time and a part-time Postgraduate Program has been operating.
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics (DND) is the oldest University Department in the country in the scientific field of Nutrition and Dietetics. Along with education, the members of the Department have significant research activity and international collaborations, factors that have made the Department one of the best in its field at European and International level.
