Marie-Helen Maras and Constantine Kleomenis Christakos were married May 18 in New York. The Rev. James W. Kordaris performed the ceremony at St. George Greek Orthodox Church.
Dr. Maras, 39, is an associate professor in the security, fire and emergency management department at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and also teaches in the digital forensics and cybersecurity program. She is the author of “Cybercriminology” (Oxford University Press, 2016), and was until April a consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
From 1997 to 2004, she served in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of petty officer second class and serving as a Navy law-enforcement specialist and a command investigator.
She received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and in computer and information science from the University of Maryland, University College, and a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of New Haven. At Oxford University in England, she received master’s degrees in criminology and in criminal justice, and also received a doctoral degree in law.
She is a daughter of Dimitra Bekiari Maras of Loutraki, Greece, and the late Panagiotis Maras. The bride’s father owned and managed commercial properties in Loutraki. Her mother retired as a grant administrator for the Greek Ministry of Labor in Athens.
Dr. Christakos, 44, is a founder of Astor Square, a real estate analytics company in New York. He is an adjunct lecturer in applied analytics at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, and is also an adjunct lecturer on computer science at John Jay. He graduated and received a doctoral degree in media arts and sciences from M.I.T., and also received a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
He is a son of Sylvia Stavropoulos Christakos and Dr. Manny E. Christakos of Mendham, N.J. The groom’s mother is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Rutgers Medical School in Newark, and past president of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. His father, a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon, retired as a partner in North Jersey Thoracic Surgical Associates in Clifton, N.J.
The couple met in 2017, when Father Kordaris approached Dr. Christakos in the coffee hour following services and asked him if he’d be interested in meeting a Greek woman. He’d also asked Dr. Maras if he could provide an introduction, but framed the question with greater circumspect.
“I was told by Father Jim, ‘There’s someone in a field that’s very similar to yours — do you want to meet him?’ I said, ‘of course,’” Dr. Maras said. “Dean knew he was being set up and I didn’t. I think that was genius of Father Jim, because that would have made me uncomfortable.”
