When Spyros Sakellariadis (A&S ’80G) arrived at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1970s, he wasn’t following a carefully designed career plan.
Fresh off a degree in physics and philosophy from Oxford University, Sakellariadis was fascinated by questions about space, time and the philosophy of science. After reading work by renowned Pitt faculty member Adolf Grünbaum, he decided he wanted to study with him.
What happened next was a lesson in the power of relationships.
A standard response from Pitt’s admissions office informed him that he had missed the application deadline and would need to wait another year. His Oxford tutor, philosopher Bill Newton-Smith, stepped in to help. Soon after, Sakellariadis received an offer from Pitt’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (formerly the College of Arts and Sciences), complete with a teaching assistantship.
“So much for procedures,” he joked. “It’s all about whom you know.”
That unexpected opportunity launched a journey that would take him far beyond academia.
After earning his PhD in history and philosophy of science in 1980, Sakellariadis initially pursued teaching, accepting a position at Boston University. But after a year in the classroom, he realized academia wasn’t his long-term calling.
What followed was a career path few could have predicted.
He worked as a proposal writer for a defense contractor, helped export construction equipment to Saudi Arabia, entered the financial services industry and eventually joined friends in launching a computer company, despite knowing little about computers at the time.
“We decided that computers were the future,” he said.
The gamble paid off. The company grew successfully and was eventually acquired by a multinational corporation. Along the way, Sakellariadis developed deep technical expertise, authored a book on email and published dozens of articles.
Those accomplishments led to a recruitment call from Microsoft and a move to Seattle with his young family.
Over an 18-year career at Microsoft, Sakellariadis earned some of the company’s highest honors before eventually returning to entrepreneurship. Today, he is a technology startup founder and part owner of a growing company.
Despite spending much of his career in technology, Sakellariadis credits his humanities education with providing the foundation for his success.
“My formal education in the humanities taught me how to research and think about complex subjects,” he said. “Those are two skills that have helped me in all my endeavors.”
Those skills proved especially valuable as he moved between industries that often had little in common. Rather than relying on technical expertise acquired in the classroom, Sakellariadis learned how to ask questions, analyze unfamiliar problems and adapt to new environments.
He believes studying the humanities develops a mindset that remains valuable regardless of profession.
“I suspect that the humanities offer a much richer environment for developing out-of-the-box thinking than do many of the alternatives,” he said.
That perspective served him well throughout his career. Whether writing proposals, working in financial services, building a computer company or navigating nearly two decades at Microsoft, he found himself drawing on the same habits of inquiry and critical thinking he developed as a graduate student.
Even in an industry filled with engineers and data scientists, Sakellariadis never viewed his humanities background as a disadvantage.
“I really do not find myself at a disadvantage in an industry where I am surrounded by brilliant technical minds,” he said.
Looking back on his time at Pitt, Sakellariadis remembers the intellectual curiosity that defined his graduate experience. Seminars, conversations with faculty and discussions with fellow students challenged him to examine complex ideas from multiple perspectives — an approach that would later shape his professional life.
His advice for today’s students is simple: don’t worry if your degree doesn’t point directly to a single career destination.
While specialized degrees often lead to clearly defined professions, Sakellariadis believes the humanities offer something different: the freedom to explore, adapt and discover opportunities that may not yet exist.
“If you study a specific field like computer science, you have to be really determined to find a job outside of IT,” he said. “Those are lifetime decisions, and college is much too early to know that that is what you want to do for the rest of your life.”
Studying the humanities, he argues, leaves students prepared for a wide range of possibilities.
“Sure, it might be scary that you are not on a career path,” he said. “But you are prepared for anything.”
More than four decades after earning his PhD from Pitt, Sakellariadis’ career serves as a reminder that success is not always the result of a carefully mapped route. Sometimes, the most valuable education is one that teaches you how to navigate the unexpected.
Written by Carly Petree