The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI) is a member of the Graduate Theological Union,[1] an ecumenical and interfaith consortium of nine independent seminaries and ten affiliated centers based in Berkeley, California.

[2] The PAOI exists to educate, communicate, promote and sustain the traditions, values, teachings and culture of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

[3] It is the only independent and permanently endowed Orthodox educational center with a physical presence at a North American university.

Previous lecturers include Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and former vice-rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, Fr.

[11] The institute was incorporated as an Affiliate Member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California in 1981, under the leadership of (then) Bishop Anthony (Gergiannakis) of San Francisco and The Very Reverend Dr. Leonidas Contos.