21 October 2011 

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the American University of Armenia (AUA), the Synopsys Corporation hosted a very special evening in Sunnyvale, California, bringing together AUA’s leadership and many of the dedicated supporters who have helped AUA to flourish. The event highlighted the role of higher education and technology in securing Armenia’s future. It was a very informative and enjoyable evening that witnessed the exchange of many valuable ideas. The attendees had the opportunity to meet the AUA President, members of its Board of Trustees and other officials from AUA and Synopsys.

 

Bruce Janigian, AUA Vice President of Development and Government Relations, opened the evening with a heartfelt introduction: “Tonight you will join with the American University of Armenia, a dream which became reality 20 years ago and which is now helping the youth of Armenia to achieve its dreams. Tonight you are standing on the bridge to the future of Armenia”. He emphasized that AUA is helping a new nation to realize a future of progress and achievement that extends all the way to the Silicon Valley, where the intellect and enterprise of young Armenians is helping to design the future of information technology and helping to power the economic future upon which the entire world depends.

 

Synopsys CEO, Art de Geus, welcomed all the guests, and used the opportunity to highlight his company’s important business relationship with Armenia and the vital access to qualified professionals that the AUA produces.  He noted that being technically strong is not enough.  For a corporation like Synopsys, which employs 550 scientists and engineers in Armenia, the Western-style management skills provided by AUA are essential to its workforce and future.

 

Dr. Judson King, the Chair of the Board of the American University of Armenia Corporation, former Provost and Senior Vice President of the University of California Office of the President, and currently the Director of UC’s Center for Studies in Higher Education, introduced the Trustees to the guests and highlighted the importance of the relationship between UC and AUA. 

 

AUA’s President, Dr. Bruce Boghosian, spoke about AUA’s accomplishments, its recent growth and future development. “Looking to the future, AUA is proposing to expand its impact by adding an undergraduate program, with approximately 300 students in each year of a four-year program, beginning in September of 2013 and graduating our first class in June of 2017. At that point, we will have 1200 undergraduate students, along with 400 graduate students, for a total student body of 1600 — four times our current size”, said Dr. Boghosian.

 

In turn, Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian, Founding Dean and currently Interim Provost and Trustee, shared the perspectives of a founder and remarked that the university is a purposeful and mature institution moving ahead with major substantive growth and expansion. 
AUA Trustee, AGBU Central Board Member, and Chief Architect of Synopsys, Yervant Zorian, put AUA into the context of global education for Armenian communities around the world.

 

The direct participation of AUA’s Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Aram Hajian, and Associate Dean of the Department of English Programs, Dr. Catherine Buon, along with highly accomplished graduates and students from the campus via videoconferencing, made the evening very unique.

 

The event was enriched with the presentation of an Armenian cultural program. The Mazmanian Family quartet performed a series of Armenian musical pieces, followed by the graceful performance of the Bay Area “Arax” dance group. The evening was closed with the “Erebouni Yerevan” song and the warm applause of the grateful audience, who left the reception with eagerness to learn more about AUA and its ongoing and future successes, as well as the remarkable job that the university does to shape the future of Armenia’s youth.

 

Click on images to enlarge

Posters with AUA pictures from 1991-2011

Synopsys CEO Art de Geus welcoming the guests at Synopsys

AUA Alumni being introduced to the guests

AUA’s Bruce Janigian welcoming campus participants via videoconference (seated L-R: BOT Chair C. Judson King; President Bruce Boghosian; Provost Armen Der Kiureghian;  Trustee and Chief Architect of Synopsys Yervant Zorian)

Provost Armen Der Kiureghian introducing videoconference participants

Dean Aram Hajian, Associate Dean Catherine Buon and AUA students and alumni participating video videoconference

Armen Der Kiureghian, AUA Founding Trustee and interim Provost

Bruce Janigian, AUA VP of Development and Government Relations

Gaiane Khachatrian, AUA Recruitment, Personnel and Public Relations Manager
   
 

The Mazmanian Family performing Armenian musical pieces