You should have known better, Professor

Professor Stamatios Krimigis was well aware that Greece is second almost to none in its shocking lack of meritocracy. He knew that there are pockets of excellence at universities and institutions, people working in extremely unfavorable conditions, who, however, don't seek any kind of acknowledgment, partly because they are afraid that someone will come along to wreck it all.

The respected Greek-American space scientist had responded to an invitation from the "homeland" in 2010 to take over as chief of the National Council for Research and Technology. "We all acted with great enthusiasm and compassion, we saw that the country needed help, and no one was getting paid," he had said of the organization's team at the time. That team of "excellence," as then education minister Anna Diamantopoulou called it, was pioneering in several areas. It used absolutely transparent and fair...