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After nearly 30 years with The Graduate School, IT Manager Pakis Bessias is set to embark on a new chapter, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of dedication, technological transformation, and deep personal connections. His career is a testament to the art of adaptability, his passion for technology, and his unwavering commitment to helping others to become lifelong learners.
Athenian to Durhamite: The Early Years
Bessias grew up on the island of Evia and lived in Athens, Greece as a young adult. His wife, Tina, an American, was teaching English in Greece when the two met in 1983. Wanting to meet her family back in North Carolina, Bessias applied for a tourist visa, but was denied.
“I came over on a fiancé visa. Translation: get married within 90 days or leave the U.S.,” he says. “In August of 1984, I landed at RDU and walked down the steps onto the tarmac. You don’t do that anymore,” he laughs. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t breathe!’ I had never experienced such heat and humidity. Thankfully the spring pollen clouds never bothered me.”
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The availability of education in the area was appealing and propelled Bessias toward gaining first an Associate’s degree from Durham Tech, and then a B.A. in geography from UNC-Chapel Hill.
In 1989, Bessias began his career at Duke in the Plant Accounting department. “It was an amazing introduction to a large American organization, Duke in particular. It was a major cultural learning experience,” Bessias says.
This role provided him a unique opportunity to learn the intricacies of the university's physical landscape. His function involved tracking space usage, which was crucial for bringing back money to the school through indirect cost recovery. This early experience gave him unparalleled access across the university.
He became intimately familiar with locations like Duke South and Duke North, visiting labyrinthian labs, classrooms, and even the Marine Lab, learning which researchers occupied which spaces.
"I had the freedom to really just walk in any place at Duke because that was part of my job. I really enjoyed that part," Bessias says.
Despite working in an accounting department, Bessias admitted he didn't know much about accounting initially. Duke's employee benefit of taking courses allowed him to enroll in undergraduate classes to supplement his degrees.
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“I took about five of them. One was foundations of accounting, and then some math courses and computer science courses, too, so I was taking my first computer language, Pascal,” he says.
These courses laid the groundwork for his future in IT, even though the technology of the late ‘80s was vastly different, from computers with 10 MB drives to screens with green and orange pixelated text.
Pioneering Technology Through Y2K and Beyond
Bessias transitioned to The Graduate School in 1996. His tenure at TGS coincided with a period of massive technological evolution. Hardware slowly transformed from heavy IBM XT computers and large, cumbersome monitors that were difficult to carry, to the lightweight flatscreens of today.
“When I first came to The Graduate School, we had a conference room about half the size of [the current one]. The table had a file server; that’s where everything was, a J: drive, a G: drive, it was the remote physical machine. And that was plugged into the wall, and there was a little piece of paper that said, ‘Do not unplug,’” he says. “So there was no physical security whatsoever.”
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A particularly seismic shift in the technological world came just four years into Bessias’s tenure.
“Those old in-house databases all used two-digit years. So it was ’88, ’89, not 1988, 1989. So then you got the ‘000. That was the Y2K issue. I think there was a huge effort within the university to make that switch from two digits to four digits, and I was responsible for doing that with our in-house databases. I can’t remember how long it was, but it was a months-long effort, maybe six to eight months where everybody like me had to update their systems,” he says. “That was an interesting and scary time, but of course, 2000 came and went, like nothing happened.”
Over the years, The Graduate School went from having one server, then a web server, which Bessias was responsible for transporting from Duke North to TGS’s building, and eventually three physical servers in his office, including an imaging server for student records. A major milestone arrived in 2010 when TGS moved to zero physical servers, transitioning to Duke OIT's Network Attached Storage (NAS), eliminating the need for manual tape backups. This shift allowed Bessias to move into more people-centered work through assisting staff with new technology, something he particularly enjoys.
Never give up. If you’ve got a problem, you try to solve it, and if you can't, look for some help around the corner.
Pakis Bessias
“There are [IT] people who really like to do the work without being bothered by others, and that’s fine, but I think there’s also the other aspect of computing which is working with people. When somebody tells you, ‘Oh, I’m dumb, I don’t know anything about the internet,’ I say, ‘No, you’re not dumb. You just have to learn.’ Providing support to people with different programs and hardware has been a very enjoyable part of my career,” Bessias says.
Software changes were a key feature of Bessias’s tenure as well. From early operating systems like Windows Workgroups and Netware, Duke eventually standardized on Microsoft Windows, while email systems evolved from Eudora to Lotus Notes/Thunderbird, and eventually to Microsoft Exchange, which has now moved to the cloud. Similarly, The Graduate School’s website has undergone transitions between different content management systems, which was a key point of collaboration between Bessias and former Director of Communications John Zhu.
“We needed to update the website again to revamp it, so John took the lead. Of course, I was right there as his backup, but it was wonderful to say, ‘I’ve got a real professional.’ It was a lot of fun, and there was a very nice outcome. It’s quite a story from 1996 with our own server and website to today,” Bessias says.
A Life of Personal Transitions and Passions
Bessias’ professional adaptability mirrors his personal life, which has also been marked by significant transitions. From his first impression of North Carolina with its “overwhelming green landscape” to getting lost in Durham for the first time to his retirement, Bessias is used to navigating change.
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"I left my little village at the age of 12 to go to the city to go to school with my brothers. So, transitions can be difficult, but I'm kind of really used to doing that,” he says.
To stay connected to his Greek heritage, Bessias and his wife Tina regularly took their two daughters to visit Greece so they could experience the culture and meet family. For the last 15 years or more, he has also been teaching modern Greek at St. Barbara's Church in Durham every Saturday during the fall and spring semesters. This allows him to not only maintain his language but also to pass it on to others, including Duke and UNC graduate students and people interested in classics.
"That's been really wonderful...I met a lot of people, not necessarily of Greek descent, but you know, Americans that really had a connection to Greek and wanted to learn Greek,” Bessias says.
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Beyond Duke, Bessias is an avid beekeeper, a hobby he started about 11 years ago. He joined the Durham Beekeepers Association in 2014 and even served as its president for three years. His approach to beekeeping, like with his work, is community-oriented.
"I'm not a beekeeper that wants to just do their own thing in the garage or in the yard and not really connect with other people. I really am out there with others to learn together and teach others how to do beekeeping," he says.
The Durham Beekeepers even have hives at the Duke Campus Farm, using the public space to teach new students. He describes wearing a veil for protection, prioritizing safety, even though he does get stung occasionally. The COVID-19 pandemic offered a "silver lining" for his hobby, as working from home allowed him to spend more time with the bees.
Values and Legacy at The Graduate School
In reflecting on his long career, Bessias reiterates that it was his connections between people, and not computers, that have driven him. He has met "a lot of people from all walks of life over the years" at Duke, from groundskeepers to faculty across various schools.
"I'm always fascinated by the different ideas that people have. It's like, oh my gosh, what a smart thing that they came up with. How can we bring this back into my office, to my neighborhood, to wherever? Because good things need to be admired and propagated,” Bessias says.
He remained at Duke, even when others left during the internet transition, because he felt good working for a non-profit that does teaching and education and patient care. His wife, Tina, also notes Duke’s important presence in their lives:
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“The Graduate School has been a consistent and happy element of our lives. Pakis has always been glad to go to work and do his part for an entity whose mission he believed in. In addition, the Duke tuition benefit was a major support for our children’s education. When our children were young, Pakis’ knowledge of campus made Duke a fun destination for an outing. Personally, I always enjoyed the social gatherings where I got to meet the people Pakis works with. Once, there was a glamorous dinner planned for an honoree who, it was discovered at the last minute, wasn’t able to come. Dean McClain turned it into an occasion to celebrate the staff and invited them all to bring their spouses to The Umstead,” she says. Events like these gave space for the blending of Bessias’ personal, professional, and social spheres, experiences he holds dear.
During hard times, Bessias has shown his character in how he has stepped up for The Graduate School and the Duke community. Tina shared that the death of Dean Jo Rae Wright was a major event for Bessias, The Graduate School, and many others.
Former Graduate School Dean Paula McClain noted Bessias's dedication to The Graduate School community exceeding his formal role when it mattered most, when the family of an international student experienced an unimaginable loss and needed support.
“Pakis provided language skills with the Greek Orthodox Church, the family, the embassy, and other related parties. Pakis also accompanied the student’s remains back to his home country and represented TGS and the university at the funeral. There is no way that we could have handled the situation as smoothly and seamlessly as Graduate Student Affairs was able to do without Pakis’ assistance. He was invaluable and went above and beyond; he did not hesitate to step in and assist. This is emblematic of the type of person and colleague Pakis is and that he demonstrated during his time in TGS,” McClain says.
Updates Available: What Comes Next
When asked what he hopes people remember about him, Bessias emphasizes practical wisdom and community support.
"Never give up. If you’ve got a problem, you try to solve it, and if you can't, look for some help around the corner," he says. He advises colleagues to ask subject matter experts nearby, just as people know to ask him about beekeeping.
Looking ahead to retirement, Bessias acknowledges it's a transition he's still figuring out, but he has some initial plans. As he has shared, transition is where he thrives.
“Retirement has come up more quickly than expected and there hasn’t been much time to think about it. Durham is an interesting place with lots of needs and opportunities for volunteering,” he says. “Family, travel, and bees will surely play a role, but I feel that I am ready for another transition.”
In considering the role Bessias has played over several decades in The Graduate School, Dean Suzanne Barbour says that Bessias served as far more than just IT support.
"Pakis has worked with The Graduate School longer than any other member of our team," Dean Barbour says. "Yes, when we needed help with our computers or devices he was always there, but it was his personable way of working with colleagues, his ability to connect with others, that has been the real support he has given to all of us. Every member of The Graduate School staff has benefited from working with Pakis, and I am deeply grateful for all he has given to Duke in his long tenure here."
Bessias says he plans to travel, spend more time with his grandchildren, and volunteer in the Durham community, potentially offering his computer skills or teaching English to immigrants. "I will certainly miss the people [at Duke]," he reflects. "It's been home for almost 30 years.”
He sees Duke, where his whole career has transpired and where his daughters were born, as a place of wonderful memories that he hopes to keep coming back to as he moves on to life’s next chapter.