George Athanasopoulos

George Athanasopoulos is Professor and Head of the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University, a position he has held since 2022. He was appointed Professor in 2019 and has established himself as an internationally recognized expert in forecasting, time series analysis, and applied econometrics. He serves as Past President (since 2024) and former Director (2014-2024) of the International Institute of Forecasters, and is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Forecasting since 2014.

His research focuses on hierarchical and grouped time series forecasting, where he has pioneered methods for forecast reconciliation and cross-temporal coherence. His work has significantly influenced forecasting practices across diverse fields including national statistics offices, energy markets, and public health. He is particularly renowned for his contributions to tourism forecasting and macroeconomic modeling in big data environments.

Awarded the Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2022 for outstanding contributions to student learning, Professor Athanasopoulos has also received multiple Dean's Awards from Monash Business School for research excellence, teaching innovation, and publication quality. His research output includes over 49 publications and leadership of six major research projects, including the ARC-funded 'Macroeconomic forecasting in a Big Data world' and the RACE for 2030 CRC project on clean energy forecasting.

His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through applications in economic forecasting, energy modeling, and sustainable tourism development. He has supervised numerous research students and collaborated extensively with institutions including Australian National University, Griffith University, and international partners across multiple continents.