Dakis Joannou, civil engineer and architect by training, was born on 30 December 1939 in Nicosia, Cyprus. He is married to Lietta and has two daughters and two sons. He graduated from the Athens College in 1958 and received his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University in 1962, his Master’s from Columbia University in 1964 and a Doctorate in Architecture from the University of Rome, Italy, in 1967. Dakis Joannou, a Businessman of wide interests in the Construction and Property Development industries, Hospitality and Consumer Goods sectors, has since his retirement devoted himself to his interests in Contemporary Art and philanthropic activities. Dakis Joannou is a major collector of contemporary art enjoying international recognition. Founder of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, he also serves on the councils of several museums worldwide. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, a member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, where he has also served on the Committee on Painting and Sculpture and a member of the International Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. He has also been a founding member of the International Directors' Council at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, where he was President between 1995 and 2005 and now serves as an Honorary Member. He is also a member of the Tate International Council and a member of the International Council of the Design Museum in London. He is actively involved in many not-for-profit organisations with a wide range of social activities. He heads Christos Stelios Ioannou Foundation, a model centre for the mentally handicapped, in Cyprus. The Ioannou family has supported the University of Oxford through the establishment of the Stelios Ioannou School for Research in Classical and Byzantine Studies and has donated the “Stelios Ioannou Learning Resource Centre”, library, to the University of Cyprus, the design of which was assigned to the internationally renowned architect Jean Nouvel.