I have riches beyond compare, little money, no watch, and no mobile telephone. I still dream. My goals were always bright and few, but some were unrealistically big, namely, to give peace a chance, the best chance I can, a peace that passeth all understanding when young, to make my small contribution to build Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land, and now at 90 to rebuild Hellenism in Delphi and spend as much quality time as possible with my people. At 90, I know what Thomas Jefferson knew at 30, namely, that very few listen.

At 18, my dream was to sing at La Scala, and I still know where middle C is located, and I still sing. Somewhere along the way, I went vocal, giving lecture recitals on the talk on the human voice from a physical and physiological aspect, followed by a few songs. My personal goals were to have an interesting job paying $20 per week, meet interesting people, and always do my best for mankind. At 90 and in my 5th career, I find myself also on the Silk Road, first in Constantinople and recently in China. In this, my 5th and penultimate career, I’m too close to the end of my last stretch, but fortunately, on the starting line (I’m an optimist).

On that road, I gave a Rubaiyat on a burden shared: a burden is a burden halved. This is a confirmation of my theory of lived parallel realities. Lessons recently learned include the Dongba hieroglyphic script, Mani the would-be prophet, and the bee sting that promotes health. In this, my 5th and penultimate career (I’m an optimist), I find myself too close to the end of my last stretch, but fortunately just on its starting line. This is a confirmation of my theory of lived parallel realities. In between my 3rd and 4th+1 careers, it became obvious that my story can be told in different ways but with one common denominator, namely that I have remained true to my well-honed and tempered childhood values through short to fleeting but rich experiences with many people and with several mentors.

Mrs. Cauliflower and Miss Butterworth, Daddy Thornton and Mr. Fox, A.J. Eales and Principal Llewellyn, Principal DW Wrangham, and Ernest Freeman Ritson Ruven Greenberg, Robert Arzbacker, Arthur Kling, Lawrence Stark, Warren McCulloch, and Heinz von Foerster, and by places and by boundaries crossed, Fourier to Laplace, analogue to digital, space to spacetime, linear to nonlinear, and from the coal fields of Yorkshire to the mine fields of the Balkans and the first and last Europe. Norbert Wiener, Humor, family, and dreams keep me going. Perchance to dream (Ivor Novello) added nostalgia and hope to my romanticism in knowing that we’ll gather lilacs in the spring again. In receiving the Titre Honorifique de Membre de la Maison Naaman pour la Culture Prix d'honneur (pour œuvres complètes), it came recently for writings in MEER and was cited as a comprehensive volume of work.

Smart islands: Naxos and Pserimos' heritage, Cultural heritage and future potential of Aegean islands in the age of climate change / 7 cities, 7 sages, one Apollo: god of order and light, a sacred center for wisdom, culture, and science in Delphi’s timeless light, and in presenting a keynote chat Bright water is heavier than steam, and ice cubes are lighter than water (Writers Capital International Foundation). This year, my career took a step towards becoming a poet, a childhood dream. I recall writing about the babbling brook at 11.

Over the past several years I have continued to teach and to mentor doctoral and master's students in Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Kosovo, and Malaysia, and most recently a student in China (Wayfaring on the Silk Road), and I have developed a philosophical program, Eurasian Bridges for Peace. My most recent award, namely the Naji Naaman Literary Prizes 2025, Prix d'honneur (pour œuvres complètes), came recently for writings in MEER and was cited as a comprehensive volume of work. Smart islands: Naxos and Pserimos' heritage, Cultural heritage and future potential of Aegean islands in the age of climate change / 7 cities, 7 sages, one Apollo: god of order and light, A sacred center for wisdom, culture, and science in Delphi’s timeless light. In Malaysia, I have developed a philosophical program, Eurasian Bridges for Peace, and most recently, a student in China (Wayfaring on the Silk Road). My most recent award, namely the Naji Naaman Literary Prizes 2025,

Levett’s career bridges the industrial revolution (England: engineering and physics) and the digital revolution (USA: bioengineering, bionics, physiology, life sciences, and community health) and continents (Europe, the Americas, and Asia). Its trajectory spans communications in coal mines and work in Colleges of Technology (2), introduction to the analog computer and its applications to control, especially servo-mechanistic control of neutron flux in the nuclear power reactor, with a continuation in Greece, in Democritus and the American Academy as the Chairman of Science, and a study of cybernetics. My career bridges the industrial revolution (England: engineering and physics) and the digital revolution (USA: bioengineering, bionics, physiology, life sciences, and community health) and continents (Europe, the Americas, and Asia). Its trajectory spans communications in coal mines and work in colleges of technology (2), introduction to the analog computer and its applications to control, especially servo-mechanistic control of neutron flux in the nuclear power reactor, with a continuation in Greece, in Democritus and the American Academy as the Chairman of Science, and a study of cybernetics.

My career started in the UK in electrical engineering, applied sciences, and nuclear reactor physics with positions with two technological institutions and the National Coal Board and continued in Greece with positions of Chairman of Science in the American Academy, IBM, Democritus, the School of Physics, UoA in Cybernetics and Systems Theory, and Greek Studies in language, history, and mythology. My second career I described as biomedical and health sciences, information sciences, and physiology with an emphasis on vision in the USA. My third career is public health, global health, and health diplomacy in Greece and the Balkans. As I moved into my fourth career, which I entitled Classical Philosophy, I knew that the Greek narrative in public health had failed and that the narrative for philosophy was far too scholastic.

I received the International Gusi Peace Prize, referred to as the Nobel Peace Prize of the East, for services to global public health, the dissemination of Hellenic thought, and the principles of classical philosophy. Currently, I study social dementia, write articles and poetry, and participate in a developing collaboration on the work of Nikola Tesla. In my fifth career and on my last stretch between two allotted doors, I remain true to my childhood values honed on rich and interesting experiences and improved by Tina, my wife and fellow wayfarer of more than 6 decades. Jeffrey Levett is the Founding Dean of the National School of Public Health, Greece (1994). He is also the Honorary President of the Athens-based World Philosophical Forum (2020), made by proclamation, whose mission is to bring about a worldwide return of classical philosophy in civic education, daily life, and political decision-making. He advocates that practical classical philosophy and population health should inform all human activity, both governmental and international. They must be promoted as critical drivers for societal progress and catalysts for world peace. In noting the banner No UNESCO without Philosophy, I advocate that there is no humanity without philosophy, urging the international community’s return to classical philosophy as promoted by Ban Ki-moon.

In America, he held positions in information engineering, biomedical engineering, and physiology, with teaching hospital experience as Chairman of Biomedical Engineering in the development of stem cell proliferation models, feedback techniques in therapy, emergency medical services, and patient safety. His research included nonlinearities in vision and other neural systems, medical algorithms, and outreach public health activities in Holmes County, Mississippi, with the Rainbow Coalition, and in primary health care.

In the Balkan Region, he has undertaken peace and philosophy studies, projects on contested space, geopolitical approaches based on brain research, and Greek-Turkish disaster management. He has participated in public health management programs in Prizren, Kosovo, Belgrade, and Skopje, and in biomedical engineering in Pula. He participated with the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization on vulnerability reduction through public health and has written major declarations, namely, the Skopje Declaration on Public Health, Peace, and Human Rights, December 2001, and Implementation of the Human Security Concept in the Balkan Countries, 2011; conducted two General Assemblies of ASPHER (1992 and 2016); inaugurated the Andrija Stampar Award of ASPHER (1992); written more than 150 articles (2016–2025); and played a role in the inauguration and development of youth activities. I live in Athens and consider myself a citizen of the earth. On one side of humanity’s coin now is seen the denied fading light of civilization, while on the other is depicted the infinite talent of mankind. As an Earth citizen, I ask, will it be heads or tails?