ADVISORY COUNCIL

Rev. Dn. Gary Alexander is the Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance at Hellenic College Holy Cross. He serves as a key strategic advisor to the President on academic affairs and as adjunct faculty for Hellenic College’s Business Management major. Rev. Alexander came to HCHC after spending close to seventeen years in cabinet level positions leading large government public health and human services agencies in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. His writings and initiatives have been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The National Review, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dn. Alexander has served as a member of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and is active in ecumenical dialogues. He graduated from Suffolk University School of Law, a Master of Divinity with highest distinction from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and a Bachelor’s magna cum laude from Northeastern University. He attended St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and completed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI. He is currently completing a dissertation toward a Doctorate in Education (EdD) from Northeastern University.

Father Robert M. Arida is the retired dean of Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral (OCA) in Boston, Massachusetts and an independent scholar. During his almost forty year tenure as dean, he has preached at Harvard’s Memorial Church and Appleton Chapel as well as other distinguished pulpits. He has guest lectured on the Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America, and on Russian religious thought at academic institutions throughout the Boston area and abroad. Among his recent publications is an introduction to and translation of Father Georges Florovsky’s The Body of the Living Christ: An Orthodox Interpretation of the Church. His articles and essays in the fields of biblical studies, church history, and Orthodox theology and life have appeared in various online and print publications and have been translated in Greek, Russian, French, Serbian, Georgian, and Bulgarian. In celebration of Father Robert’s retirement, Holy Trinity Cathedral published a book of his sermons, What Does This Mean For Us?

Presvytera Maria Drossos is the Director of the CrossRoad Parish Project of the CrossRoad Institute.  A native of Chicago, Illinois, she is married to Father Odisseys Drossos, who serves at St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church in Roslindale, MA. They have a wonderful son Thomas. She earned her Master of Divinity (University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto) with a Certificate in Eastern Christian Studies from the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute and her Bachelor of Business Administration (Loyola University of Chicago). For twenty years, she served at St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto as volunteer, as President of the Board of Directors, and as Director of Operations. Presvytera Maria was awarded the Medal of St. Paul for service in the Church by the late Archbishop Iakovos. She also currently serves as an advisory board member for Saint Catherine’s Vision and is a member of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Task Force on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

Fr. Philip Halikias grew up on Long Island, New York, and lived in Brooklyn, New York, wherein he graduated with his BA in Religious Studies and Philosophy from St. Joseph’s University with honors. Fr. Philip came to New England and graduated with his M.Div from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology with honors in 2018. Subsequently, he completed his doctorate through Boston University’s School of Theology in 2021. Fr. Philip is the Chief Equity and Compliance Officer and Adjunct Professor of Orthodox-Catholic relations and Ecumenism at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He focuses on Ecumenical and Interfaith work through the National Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission and Muslim-Christian Dialogue. He is an active participant and contributor to the North American Orthodox-Catholic Consultation, and is currently representing the Orthodox church on the editing team for the World Council of Churches’ Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Fr. Philip serves the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Manchester, New Hampshire, and lives in Massachusetts with his family.

Fr. Harry has studied at Davidson College, Holy Cross School of Theology, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D. in the Old Testament. Along with thirty-seven years of pastoral experience in small, medium, and large size parishes, he has taught courses in Biblical Hebrew at Yale; Old Testament, Pastoral Theology, Preaching at St. Vladimir’s Seminary and Holy Cross. He has engaged in short term missionary work in Mexico, Guatemala, and Albania; prison ministry in Minnesota; Emmaus House in Harlem for the homeless; served on the Board of Trustees of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical & Cultural Research (Minnesota) for fifteen years; been an active member of Ecumenical and Interfaith Clergy Associations in Nashville, Minnesota, and Stamford; is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Orthodox Theological Society of America, and the International Orthodox Theological Association.  Fr. Harry has been married to Presvytera Kerry (Kaloudis) for forty-two years; they have three children and six grandchildren. He is a practitioner of contemplative prayer, and enjoys reading, gardening, physical exercise, good movies and tennis.