Stepan Khzrtian (LL.M. 2010) has been named Director of the Center for Excellence in Negotiation-Yerevan, a program of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences.  The Center is part of an international network, with its hub in Boston at the Bridgeway Group.  The other CENs are in Moscow, Kiev and Almaty.  Funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and by a grant from Ms. Carolyn Mugar of Boston, CEN is dedicated to training, research and analysis on principled negotiation as advocated and promoted by the late Roger Fisher of the Harvard Negotiation Project.   Khzrtian, who recently earned his second LL.M. at Cambridge University, also teaches negotiation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and business organizations at AUA.  

Professor George Bournoutian (Iona College, USA) gave a presentation to AUA students, alumni, faculty, staff, and guests on an official document that shows that the ethnic composition of Mountainous Karabagh region was nearly entirely Armenian at the time of its incorporation into the Russian Empire.   His ground-breaking translation and publication of the Russian 1823 Survey of Karabagh has made the full, unadulterated text of this historic document available for scholarly research and historical accuracy.  

On October 5 the AGBU Papazian Library hosted the unveiling of the Armenian translation of the Electronic Information for Libraries’ (EIFL) Handbook on Copyright and Related Issues for Libraries.   Translated by Hasmik Galstyan, Papazian Library’s Head of Reference, the Handbook is the first book on copyright and libraries translated into Armenian.  The event was held in AUA’s Akian Gallery. Two days prior to the unveiling, Papazian Library also organized a round table dialogue with European copyright expert Dr. Miha Trampuz to discuss amendments to Armenian Copyright Law for the digital environment.  Participants included library directors, copyright advocates, and book publishers.

From September 7-12, AUA’s College of Science and Engineering (CSE) hosted an international conference on Financial Mathematics. More than seventy scientists from 18 countries including Sweden, Italy, Austria, UK, Germany, India, Taiwan, Russia, and the US participated in the five-day event.  The conference was a collaborative undertaking between AUA’s CSE, the Institute of Mathematics of the National Academy of Sciences, and Yerevan State University’s Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics.   CSE Dean Aram Hajian commented, “We at the CSE are very pleased to collaborate with leading education and research institutions in Armenia to host such a prestigious conference in the inter-disciplinary of Financial Mathematics. We look forward to further collaborative efforts with the Academy of Sciences and Yerevan State University in the future.”

On September 26, 2012, the American University of Armenia (AUA) College of Health Sciences, in collaboration with the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, organized a Public Health Seminar with Dr. Aram V. Chobanian, a world famous cardiologist and President Emeritus of Boston University as well as a Dean Emeritus and Provost of Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Chobanian talked about the major public health challenge of cardiovascular diseases, particularly hypertension, in Armenia. He emphasized the importance of appropriate control of hypertension through healthy lifestyle and medical therapy to prevent cardiovascular complications. Dr. Chopanian also shared with the audience the international evidence behind the recommendations of the Seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the US, which he chaired.

The large audience of public health and medical professionals, including students, faculty, researchers and physicians and members of the AUA community, asked questions and received advice from Dr. Chobanian during an active question/answer session following his presentation. The reception in the AUA Akian Gallery provided the opportunity for informal interactions between Dr. Chobanian and attendees of the public health seminar.

Dr. Aram V. Chobanian founded the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at the Boston University School of Medicine in 1974, and oversaw its rapid development into a center for pioneering research into the biological and clinical aspects of cardiovascular disease. Boston University recently awarded him with an honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa. Dr. Chobanian has received numerous awards for his basic and clinical research on cardiovascular diseases. These include the First Lifetime Achievement Award in Hypertension of the American Heart Association, the Modern Medicine Award, the Award of Merit of the American Heart Association, the Abbott Award of the American Society of Hypertension and the Freis Award of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program. He recently chaired the Seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He has published more than 275 papers and two books, and served on several editorial boards, and had chaired the Publications Committee of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Chobanian was elected as a Foreign Member of the Armenian National Academy of Science and recently received the St. Mesrob-Mashtots Medal from Catholicos Aram I. Dr. Chobanian has been involved in several programs to improve health care in Armenia, including training of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals in emergency medicine, trauma care, and health care management; development of medical residency and post-graduate educational programs in Armenia and the establishment of a successful medical student elective program for US medical students to spend one to two months in Armenian hospitals and clinics. He has also been instrumental in the provision of much-needed medical equipment, supplies, and medications for Armenia.

Dr. Chobanian was in Armenia at the invitation of the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR).

In conversation From L to R: Dr. Chobanian and President Boghosian	AUA Administrators speaking with Dr. Chobanian at AUA’s Akian Gallery From L to R: CFO Gevorg Goyunyan, Provost Dennis Leavens, President Bruce Boghosian, Dr. Chobanian

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Founded in 1991, AUA is affiliated with the University of California. Through teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the region by supplying high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, 510-748-9001.

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