Vartan Gregorian: Difference between revisions
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Gregorian was born in [[Tabriz]], [[Iran]], to Samuel B. Gregorian and Shushanik G. Mirzaian. His family belonged to the minority Armenian Christian population within the predominantly [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]]-speaking [[Muslim]] population in Tabriz. At age six, Gregorian's mother, then twenty-six, died in childbirth. His father, who distanced himself from Gregorian, remarried, and Gregorian |
Gregorian was born in [[Tabriz]], [[Iran]], to Samuel B. Gregorian and Shushanik G. Mirzaian. His family belonged to the minority Armenian Christian population within the predominantly [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]]-speaking [[Muslim]] population in Tabriz. At age six, Gregorian's mother, then twenty-six, died in childbirth. His father, who distanced himself from Gregorian, remarried, and Gregorian and his younger sister Ojik were raised by his maternal grandmother Voski Mirzaian<ref>[http://groong.usc.edu/tcc/tcc-20030616.html Book Review: ''The Road to Home'' by Vartan Gregorian]. Armenian News Network / Groong (retrieved June 10, 2006).</ref>. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 07:03, 10 June 2006
Vartan Gregorian (born April 8, 1934 in Tabriz, Iran) is a distinguished Armenian-American academic, currently serving as the president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. After receiving his dual Ph.D. in history and humanities from Stanford University in 1964, Gregorian served on the faculties at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University), UCLA, and the University of Texas at Austin before joining the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he became the founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1974 and the provost in 1981.
Starting in 1981 until 1989, Gregorian served as president of the New York Public Library, an eight-year tenure which would prove one of his most lasting legacies. As president, he nearly doubled the library's endowment (from $94 million to $180 million), oversaw renovation of the main building[1], conducted fundraising which gathered $400 million, and generally revitalized the reputation of the institution, which had in recent years been in decline[2].
In 1989 he was chosen to succeed Howard Robert Swearer as the sixteenth president of Brown University, where he served until 1997. That year he was selected as president of the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York, his current position as of 2006. He has received the National Humanities Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. Gregorian is on the advisory board of USC Center on Public Diplomacy and is a member of the editorial board of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He has also received (as of 2006) honorary degrees from fifty-six institutions.
Early life
Gregorian was born in Tabriz, Iran, to Samuel B. Gregorian and Shushanik G. Mirzaian. His family belonged to the minority Armenian Christian population within the predominantly Azeri-speaking Muslim population in Tabriz. At age six, Gregorian's mother, then twenty-six, died in childbirth. His father, who distanced himself from Gregorian, remarried, and Gregorian and his younger sister Ojik were raised by his maternal grandmother Voski Mirzaian[3].
References
- ^ "Vartan Gregorian Awarded Honorary Membership in the American Library Association". The Carnegie Corporation of New York (retrieved June 9, 2006).
- ^ "Carnegie Corp. Picks a Chief in Gregorian". The Washington Post (retrieved June 9, 2006, via cilicia.com).
- ^ Book Review: The Road to Home by Vartan Gregorian. Armenian News Network / Groong (retrieved June 10, 2006).
External links
- Carnegie Corporation Biography
- Library of Congress video of Gregorian discussing autobiography
- Gregorian's 2005 Notre Dame commencement speech
- USC Center on Public Diplomacy
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