Constantine Karayannopoulos – CEO at Neo Performance Materials Inc., Overlea/Marc Garneau Graduate
Constantine Karayannopoulos is the Chief Executive Officer at Neo Performance Materials but he was not always as passionate about chemistry as he is now. His long and successful career has brought him out of retirement to serve as CEO for the same company multiple times and has allowed him to give back to the Overlea Garneau community to honour the people who helped him along the way.
I had the privilege of sitting down with Constantine to talk about our high school experiences, his career, and the importance of perspective.
When were you at Overlea?
I came to Canada in 1977 from Greece. I was 17; I landed in July. Then in August, I registered at Overlea and lived in Thorncliffe Park, which was a common landing spot for new immigrants. My uncle lived in, what was back then, a luxury rental property. I went to Overlea from 1977 to ‘78. I finished grade 12 and, of course, had to do grade 13 to get into university.
So what led you to chemical engineering?
I guess it’s a bit odd that I ended up [there]. I never liked chemistry in Greece. In fact, I absolutely hated it! I loved math, geometry and I joined the math club at Overlea when I came in but there were all these ridiculously bright kids. It was embarrassing being in the math club with these kids that were certifiable geniuses. But I never liked chemistry as it never made sense. In Greece, I came from a school that never did labs, it was highly theoretical. Everything you knew about physics and chemistry, you knew from reading books and I could never learn like that so I preferred math since you didn’t have to touch and feel it to get it. At Overlea, Mr. Oslinger was my science teacher in grade 12 and he made sense out of chemistry for me. It was cool and I liked it.
When I applied to universities, I knew I wanted to apply to engineering but I didn’t know what kind. My first choice was Engineering Science at UofT but I didn’t get in due to marks. My next choice was Chemical Engineering since Mr. Oslinger made me like chemistry.
Thanks to you, the Overlea chemistry labs have gotten brand new equipment and I’m sure that’s helped the students greatly. What led you to making that donation?
About 3 years ago, I reached out to Cheryl Woods. She’s the science director at Overlea and I said, “Listen, I have two academic debts in my life.” One is Diran Basmadjian. He was my thesis supervisor in graduate school and one of the best engineers I ever met. He made applied mathematics mean something and he passed on about 10 to 12 years ago. I set up a teaching scholarship in his name in the Department of Chemical Engineering. I always felt that universities pay too much attention to and spend too much time on research and not enough time on teaching which is ultimately what the purpose in life should be. Basmadjian was a fantastic teacher so I set up the Diran Basmadjian Teaching Scholarship that goes to post or graduate students who teach. They all get rated by the students and whoever gets the highest rating gets the scholarship.
The other debt I had was with Overlea. Marty Oslinger made me like chemistry and I remember the labs at Overlea being rather primitive. I remember the styrofoam cups and thermometers. So I wanted to give money to get some equipment which would allow the kids to learn better, learn more effectively. I wanted to name the lab after Marty and Cheryl Woods said that was a fantastic idea. So she talked to Marty and asked if the lab could be named after him. Marty requested that another teacher who was also highly regarded be included and I thought if that’s what Marty wishes, then let’s do it!
Now there is new equipment that allows the kids to do experiments and get digital readouts and download the data. It is no longer necessary to write everything down in a notebook which we still do but not only that, these pieces of equipment allow the kids to finish the experiments the same day so they don’t have to leave stuff around and come back two days later and see what happens. You do the experiment, you measure, you get your data and it’s done the same day and a lot more efficient.
Do you have any advice or experience that speaks to you that you could speak to other kids?
I speak to the kids often at the university and share the advice that I gave to my kids, which they didn’t take. Stick with your math and sciences. Don’t drop stuff that you are having difficulty with. Give it a real try because I think the way the world is unfolding, you have to have a good foundation in math and sciences if you are going to pursue a career that will allow you to put food on the table for your family over the long term. The other thing is to start working from a young age. I never worked in Greece other than helping my dad, who was an electrician. I used to go work with him over the summers and helped out but I never really had until I came here. All the friends I used to hang out with all had a job at McDonalds or whatever. They all had jobs. So I got a job and started working at the bankers’ mill at Thorncliffe. Then I got a job as a busboy at a restaurant downtown which I stayed at for 3 years every single weekend. I would go home on Fridays after school. Shower and take the bus downtown and would finish work at 1:30 am every Friday and Saturday. As a result I always had a bit of money at school and I never bothered my parents with spending money and things like that. I think developing a good work ethic and a good work experience at a younger age is very important.
It’s important to have an idea of what you want to do professionally even in high school. I know most kids don’t want to bother thinking about it until they want to apply to university but then they don’t know what they want to do. I think that thinking in terms of professional development needs to start early on. You really need to pick up financial skills as well because even as an engineer your career will be dictated on whether what you are working on is going to make money. I have learned that the hard way by working on projects that were eventually canceled. You put your heart and soul in a project and the economy turns and… oh no things get canceled.
I also tell my kids that you can be a lot more effective and do a lot more by being nice to people. You really need to have emotional intelligence, especially when you are in a position where you have to manage a lot of people. I think you need to be liked and respected and to a lesser degree feared. You can do a lot more with sugar than with vinegar or whatever the saying is. These are things that are relevant to my life and career. Whether those mean anything to others, I don’t know but I always found them useful.
You mentioned your children. How have you balanced a career with having a family?
My wife worked for Scotiabank for 35 years and most of her career was with real estate development. She did a degree in Geography with a focus in Urban Planning at UofT.
When she graduated in ‘83, there were very few jobs due to the recession. She managed to get a job with the management training company at Scotiabank and started as a loans officer, then an assistant branch manager and then manager. After that, a position in real estate development opened up downtown and she got it because of her degree and background. That was the most creative part of her career… then the kids started coming and eventually she retired 2 years ago after 35 years having spent the last 15 years job sharing with her best friend. They both had kids and didn’t want to go back full time. At the time they had a rather progressive and visionary boss who was a woman and managed to carve out two 50% jobs out of a single job. They did it for 15 years.
What led you to Neo Performance Materials?
Part of what I was saying earlier was a calculated risk. In ‘93, I was doing really well with Praxair. I was a manager in chemical and refining applications. I was doing well, I was well-liked, my bonuses were really good. But I decided to leave the company and join my friend Peter Gundy who was starting this company. We had two kids and it was a big risk when you have to start a family. My wife was working at the time so I knew if it failed, there was still one professional salary that would pay the bills until I got something else. That was what I meant earlier by taking a calculated risk. I wasn’t going off the deep end and taking a silly risk. It was a very deliberate move. I made sure we had all of our ducks in a row and the down side was covered. It worked out.
That’s amazing. Sometimes you have to take a risk. If it’s calculated like yours.
20 years later, in 2012, we sold the company. It was still public and I was a very small shareholder but we sold the company for a godly amount of money so all the bills were paid, mortgages were paid, the money went to the bank, and so on. What I like to say is that since 2012, my modest lifestyle has been paid for. There was an old Greek saying that you are only as wealthy as what your needs are. So if your needs are a private jet and a super yacht, then you will never be wealthy. I don’t aspire to a private jet lifestyle. I still live in Don Mills, I have more than what I need, my kids are all working and doing well on their own. I will help them if I need to.
Eventually they will all need to buy a place but part of what we are trying to do with the kids is we don’t want to spoil them. I know a lot of people in the financial industry who make way too much money, way too young and if that happens, you don’t appreciate it. I have seen people buy Porsches for their kids in their 20s that don’t need it. So what we have done with our kids, one of them bought a condo last year and you have to calculate what your disposable income is and what portion you can afford to pay as a mortgage payment and then we will figure it out. That’s what he did and when he bought the property, instead of getting a mortgage from the bank, I said “here’s the money. It’s coming from your trust fund but this money is not yours until we kick the bucket. This is not a gift, it’s a mortgage and you are going to pay back into your own trust fund.” I don’t want my kids to think they have disposable income so they’re drinking and partying all the time. The money goes into his trust fund with zero interest. It’s all principal. It’s his money that he’s paying himself. That forces him to have financial discipline. He is in investment banking and is making more money than he should be making. So this is not a bad thing and the money is going to the bank instead of the local bar. This is what we are trying to do with all three of them. So far so good.
Related
Interview with Constantine Karayannopoulos
Posted: May 21, 2025 by Overlea/Marc Garneau Alumni Association
Constantine Karayannopoulos – CEO at Neo Performance Materials Inc., Overlea/Marc Garneau Graduate
I had the privilege of sitting down with Constantine to talk about our high school experiences, his career, and the importance of perspective.
When were you at Overlea?
I came to Canada in 1977 from Greece. I was 17; I landed in July. Then in August, I registered at Overlea and lived in Thorncliffe Park, which was a common landing spot for new immigrants. My uncle lived in, what was back then, a luxury rental property. I went to Overlea from 1977 to ‘78. I finished grade 12 and, of course, had to do grade 13 to get into university.
So what led you to chemical engineering?
I guess it’s a bit odd that I ended up [there]. I never liked chemistry in Greece. In fact, I absolutely hated it! I loved math, geometry and I joined the math club at Overlea when I came in but there were all these ridiculously bright kids. It was embarrassing being in the math club with these kids that were certifiable geniuses. But I never liked chemistry as it never made sense. In Greece, I came from a school that never did labs, it was highly theoretical. Everything you knew about physics and chemistry, you knew from reading books and I could never learn like that so I preferred math since you didn’t have to touch and feel it to get it. At Overlea, Mr. Oslinger was my science teacher in grade 12 and he made sense out of chemistry for me. It was cool and I liked it.
When I applied to universities, I knew I wanted to apply to engineering but I didn’t know what kind. My first choice was Engineering Science at UofT but I didn’t get in due to marks. My next choice was Chemical Engineering since Mr. Oslinger made me like chemistry.
Thanks to you, the Overlea chemistry labs have gotten brand new equipment and I’m sure that’s helped the students greatly. What led you to making that donation?
About 3 years ago, I reached out to Cheryl Woods. She’s the science director at Overlea and I said, “Listen, I have two academic debts in my life.” One is Diran Basmadjian. He was my thesis supervisor in graduate school and one of the best engineers I ever met. He made applied mathematics mean something and he passed on about 10 to 12 years ago. I set up a teaching scholarship in his name in the Department of Chemical Engineering. I always felt that universities pay too much attention to and spend too much time on research and not enough time on teaching which is ultimately what the purpose in life should be. Basmadjian was a fantastic teacher so I set up the Diran Basmadjian Teaching Scholarship that goes to post or graduate students who teach. They all get rated by the students and whoever gets the highest rating gets the scholarship.
The other debt I had was with Overlea. Marty Oslinger made me like chemistry and I remember the labs at Overlea being rather primitive. I remember the styrofoam cups and thermometers. So I wanted to give money to get some equipment which would allow the kids to learn better, learn more effectively. I wanted to name the lab after Marty and Cheryl Woods said that was a fantastic idea. So she talked to Marty and asked if the lab could be named after him. Marty requested that another teacher who was also highly regarded be included and I thought if that’s what Marty wishes, then let’s do it!
Now there is new equipment that allows the kids to do experiments and get digital readouts and download the data. It is no longer necessary to write everything down in a notebook which we still do but not only that, these pieces of equipment allow the kids to finish the experiments the same day so they don’t have to leave stuff around and come back two days later and see what happens. You do the experiment, you measure, you get your data and it’s done the same day and a lot more efficient.
Do you have any advice or experience that speaks to you that you could speak to other kids?
It’s important to have an idea of what you want to do professionally even in high school. I know most kids don’t want to bother thinking about it until they want to apply to university but then they don’t know what they want to do. I think that thinking in terms of professional development needs to start early on. You really need to pick up financial skills as well because even as an engineer your career will be dictated on whether what you are working on is going to make money. I have learned that the hard way by working on projects that were eventually canceled. You put your heart and soul in a project and the economy turns and… oh no things get canceled.
I also tell my kids that you can be a lot more effective and do a lot more by being nice to people. You really need to have emotional intelligence, especially when you are in a position where you have to manage a lot of people. I think you need to be liked and respected and to a lesser degree feared. You can do a lot more with sugar than with vinegar or whatever the saying is. These are things that are relevant to my life and career. Whether those mean anything to others, I don’t know but I always found them useful.
You mentioned your children. How have you balanced a career with having a family?
My wife worked for Scotiabank for 35 years and most of her career was with real estate development. She did a degree in Geography with a focus in Urban Planning at UofT.
When she graduated in ‘83, there were very few jobs due to the recession. She managed to get a job with the management training company at Scotiabank and started as a loans officer, then an assistant branch manager and then manager. After that, a position in real estate development opened up downtown and she got it because of her degree and background. That was the most creative part of her career… then the kids started coming and eventually she retired 2 years ago after 35 years having spent the last 15 years job sharing with her best friend. They both had kids and didn’t want to go back full time. At the time they had a rather progressive and visionary boss who was a woman and managed to carve out two 50% jobs out of a single job. They did it for 15 years.
What led you to Neo Performance Materials?
Part of what I was saying earlier was a calculated risk. In ‘93, I was doing really well with Praxair. I was a manager in chemical and refining applications. I was doing well, I was well-liked, my bonuses were really good. But I decided to leave the company and join my friend Peter Gundy who was starting this company. We had two kids and it was a big risk when you have to start a family. My wife was working at the time so I knew if it failed, there was still one professional salary that would pay the bills until I got something else. That was what I meant earlier by taking a calculated risk. I wasn’t going off the deep end and taking a silly risk. It was a very deliberate move. I made sure we had all of our ducks in a row and the down side was covered. It worked out.
That’s amazing. Sometimes you have to take a risk. If it’s calculated like yours.
20 years later, in 2012, we sold the company. It was still public and I was a very small shareholder but we sold the company for a godly amount of money so all the bills were paid, mortgages were paid, the money went to the bank, and so on. What I like to say is that since 2012, my modest lifestyle has been paid for. There was an old Greek saying that you are only as wealthy as what your needs are. So if your needs are a private jet and a super yacht, then you will never be wealthy. I don’t aspire to a private jet lifestyle. I still live in Don Mills, I have more than what I need, my kids are all working and doing well on their own. I will help them if I need to.
Eventually they will all need to buy a place but part of what we are trying to do with the kids is we don’t want to spoil them. I know a lot of people in the financial industry who make way too much money, way too young and if that happens, you don’t appreciate it. I have seen people buy Porsches for their kids in their 20s that don’t need it. So what we have done with our kids, one of them bought a condo last year and you have to calculate what your disposable income is and what portion you can afford to pay as a mortgage payment and then we will figure it out. That’s what he did and when he bought the property, instead of getting a mortgage from the bank, I said “here’s the money. It’s coming from your trust fund but this money is not yours until we kick the bucket. This is not a gift, it’s a mortgage and you are going to pay back into your own trust fund.” I don’t want my kids to think they have disposable income so they’re drinking and partying all the time. The money goes into his trust fund with zero interest. It’s all principal. It’s his money that he’s paying himself. That forces him to have financial discipline. He is in investment banking and is making more money than he should be making. So this is not a bad thing and the money is going to the bank instead of the local bar. This is what we are trying to do with all three of them. So far so good.
Related
Category: Where Are They Now?