171 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ENTREPRENEURS condominiums across the nation. In 1981, he designed, built and donated to Palos Heights, Illinois, the Monument to Peace, honoring those who gave their lives to the country’s war missions. It was his father, while visiting from Greece and touring his son’s projects, who inspired him to think about olives and olive oils when he asked him, “What have you done for Greece?” After two years of product development, Mr. Chronopoulos introduced the cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet to the U.S. with three superior-quality extra virgin olive oils and the first-ever double-stuffed olive. He promptly received the Thumbs Up Award from the Chicago Tribune and was ranked #1 by the U.S. Consumer Report. His extra virgin olive oils have earned numerous gold medal awards. they suggested the U.S. rather than Germany for engineering school. These two professors convinced his parents and secured him a scholarship. In 1960, Mr. Chronopoulos arrived in Louisiana and was accepted by Northeast Louisiana State University in pre-engineering on a small scholarship. At the end of that year, he transferred to Louisiana Tech to complete his education, working nights at a gas station and the summer as a construction laborer. Mr. Chronopoulos’ part-time employment began taking a toll on his studies. Seeking better opportunities, he visited Chicago, where he was accepted at the Illinois Institute of Technology in mechanical and aerospace engineering and found full-time employment at G & W Electric Company. His first assignment at G & W Electric was as a practicing design engineer in researching and developing underground electric energy distribution systems, electric transformers and generators. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 1970, Mr. Chronopoulos was employed by United States Steel Corporation (USS) as a project engineer. As a member of the environmental protection team charged with cleaning and curbing pollutants produced by their steel mills and other industries from entering Lake Michigan, the team developed clarifiers for the treatment of sewer pollutants and replaced coal furnaces used in the production of structural steel components to electric. This saved Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, when these projects were completed, USS closed its steel mills and moved its engineering department to Pittsburgh. Unwilling to move from Chicago, in 1976, Mr. Chronopoulos opened a highly successful design and construction company, introducing the modular building concept to the industry and building high-rise hotels, townhomes and
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