2013
The College of Science and Engineering hosts a working conference on the Reliability and Optimization of Structural Systems. The European Bird Census Council appoints the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE) as the national coordinator for the European Breeding Bird Atlas 2 Project. AUA ACE is working on the first ever Monitoring Atlas on Butterflies of Armenia. AUA ACE develops ecological and ornithological education programs with local high schools. AUA ACE and the School of Public Health organize two international scientific symposiums titled “Mining and Socio-Economic Development: Armenia’s Policy Choices” and “Emerging Issues in Environmental and Occupational Health: Mining and Construction in Transition Economies” The Legal Resource Center sponsors an international conference on the International Criminal Court and Armenia. AUA Extension completes two trainings on women’s entrepreneurship and holds its first conference for women entrepreneurs funded by the Armenian International Women’s Association. AUA launches AUA Extension in NKR, with funding from AGBU. AUA launches the Continuing Education Program for rural Armenia funded by the Turpanjian Family Foundation. AUA Extension enters into a partnership agreement with the Central Bank of Armenia for conducting a needs assessment of the Dilijan population. AUA Extension begins offering courses at the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute. The Center for Research in Applied Linguistics launches its pre-school English Language Program. The School of Public Health and AUA ACE partner with the Blacksmith Institute and Armenian Ministries of Health and Nature Protection to develop an inventory of toxic waste sites in Armenia. PSIA faculty Dr. Syuzanna Vasilyan is awarded the first and only Jean Monnet Chair in European Studies in Armenia. The College of Business and Economics establishes a collaborative internship program with UNICEF, enabling MBA students to work in areas such as public health, human rights, and environmental sustainability.
2012
AUA holds “Celebration of Education,” a week-long series of events celebrating its 20th anniversary, including an art exhibit, a concert, and a conference on Frontiers of Higher Education. Achievements and Milestones ( CONTINUED) AUA receives preliminary approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for its reaccreditation Capacity Preparatory Review and for starting undergraduate programs in Computational Sciences, Business, and English & Communications in Fall 2013. The University establishes agreements with the Ministries of Defense, Justice and Economy on cooperation and student internships. Through a USAID-ASHA grant, major renovations are made to enlarge the Papazian Library and modernize the cafeteria. The Department of English Programs organizes its first Student Research Conference with the participation of graduate students from local universities. A team of CIS faculty and students develops a security algorithm for Samsung video devices. The Acopian Center for the Environment, in collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences, holds the first conference on Biodiversity Conservation in the South Caucasus. The Law Department holds an international conference on Crossroads of Psychology and Law and a seminar series on Rethinking Values, Norms and Institutions in Armenia. The College of Health Sciences conducts research to improve control of tuberculosis among migrant workers and to assess risk factors for developing drug-resistant tuberculosis in Armenia. The School of Business and Management initiates a part-time evening MBA program for working professionals. AUA Extension launches its first “Summer School for Teens.” The University initiates a “Thinking About Thinking” lecture series in collaboration with Luys Foundation. AUA inaugurates the e-Bulletin to inform the public about its activities and accomplishments.
2011
CHSR evaluates the Ministry of Health’s Child Health State Certificate Program with financial support from USAID. The first Intellectual Property Moot Court for law students throughout Armenia is held at AUA. A team of CIS cryptography researchers and students initiates collaborative research projects with NTX Research and the Volkswagen Foundation. PSIA and the US Embassy launch a new cycle of the Mentoring Program for Women that pairs professional women with AUA students. DEP organizes the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science’s English Olympiad and hosts a conference on Challenges and Opportunities for EFL Testing. Three MBA students receive first-place awards in the World Bank’s nationwide essay competition. CBRD completes Phase I of the Ministry of Economy’s Gyumri Technology Incubator Project.
2010
The AUA Board of Trustees appoints the University’s third President, Dr. Bruce Boghosian, and designates Dr. Haroutune Armenian as President Emeritus. The Law Department successfully transitions to a thematic curriculum which simultaneously qualifies students for the LL.M. and offers modular certificates to practitioners for continuing legal education. DEP hosts IATEFL Virtual conference with 150 international participants and is awarded a grant to help improve the professional development of TEFL in Armenia. CHSR conducts a comprehensive project on Assessment of Public Health Services in Armenia in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and support from the World Health Organization Country Office.
2009
A team of first-year CIS students wins the Microsoft Imagine Cup Armenia competition. CIS launches the Certificate Program in Object-Oriented Programming. The Law Department launches the first LSAT to take place in Armenia. The World Bank Yerevan Office and AUA launch the Knowledge for Development Center at the AUA Papazian Library. AUA hosts two conferences for overseas American universities, the annual meeting of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities, and the 2009 meeting of the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries. DEP convenes the first International Language Assessment Conference in Armenia with more than 150 international scholars in attendance. DEP introduces new certificate programs in Translation and TEFL. ACE convenes the first conference in Armenia on the use of GIS and Remote Sensing. AUA Extension becomes the first IBM Authorized Independent Training Provider in the region. The Turpanjian Rural Development Program provides training and financial support for the Program’s 100th village entrepreneur.
2008
The Paramaz Avedisian Building opens with a grand ceremony. The PAB is a fully- equipped state-of-the-art educational facility that offers a superior learning environment, exceptional not only for Armenia but for the entire region. The Center for Health Services Research and Development starts a three-year collaborative project, “Epidemiology and Intervention Research for Tobacco Control in Armenia,” with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Global Tobacco Control. The AUA Extension Program expands to Gyumri and Stepanakert. Through a generous donation of the Turpanjian Family Foundation, the AUA Digital Library of Armenian Classics completes digitization of 60 major authors of Western Armenian literature, 1850-2000. AUA Law students win 1st place in a national IHL Moot Court competition.
2007
AUA receives U.S. accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of the seven regional accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, for the maximum period of seven years. The Turpanjian Rural Development Program opens three field offices in the Shirak and Tavush Marzes and in Nagorno-Karabagh. Dr. Karen Aghababyan receives the United Kingdom’s prestigious Whitley Fund for Nature Award for research combining environmental conservation research with education. The AUA Extension Program joins the Microsoft IT Academy and IBM Business Partnership and establishes a Hospitality and Tourism Training Program. The College of Health Sciences admits its first three students to the MD/MPH combined degree program in collaboration with Yerevan State Medical University. For the first time, an AUA graduate, Ms. Lilit Galstian, is elected as a Member of the Armenian National Assembly.
2006
AUA is a founding member of the consortium of American-style Academic Libraries of colleges and universities in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East which is created to implement collaborative projects in information resources and technology that support teaching and learning. Achievements and Milestones (CONTINUED) AUA launches the Turpanjian Rural Development Program, a major five-year initiative focused on economic growth through adult education and rural entrepreneurship. The Anti-Seismic Systems International Society and AUA, in collaboration with the Armenian Association for Earthquake Engineering, holds an international workshop on “Base-Isolated High-Rise Buildings.” Armenia is the first among developing nations to implement seismic-isolation technology and pioneers the practice of retrofitting buildings for seismic isolation. Three hundred doctors and nurses in Nagorno-Karabakh complete basic first-aid and emergency skills training, organized by the Center for Health Services Research and Development as part of the USAID-funded Humanitarian Assistance Program for Nagorno-Karabakh.
2005
Construction begins on the Paramaz Avedisian building. The university hosts the accreditation team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for its Capacity and Preparatory Review. The Turpanjian Family Foundation provides support for the first Armenian Big Brother and Big Sister program providing mentoring for undergraduates. The US Department of Energy awards a grant for proliferation prevention to scientists at AUA, the Yerevan Physics Institute, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, and an optico-physics Institute in Moscow. The AUA Digital Library provides the content of the most comprehensive 5-volume publication of Armenian Classical Literature from the 5th to 7th centuries. The College of Health Sciences, with support from the Open Society Institute, graduates its first international students: three from Moldova and one from Mongolia. The Master of Public Health Program, College of Health Sciences, hosts the XXVII ASPHER conference with delegates from over 50 countries and five continents.
2004
The university launches a number of named scholarships, including the Turpanjian Family Foundation Scholarship program which helps orphaned and economically disadvantaged students at AUA and other Armenian universities as well as scholarships honoring Stepan Karamardian, Arpine and Arda Hovnanian, Zaven O. Kodjayan, the Garmery Benevolent Association, Richard R. Tufenkian/the Armenian Educational Foundation, and Harry Kullijian. The Center for Research and Development in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching is established within the Department of English Programs. The university’s student loan program continues to expand thanks to many generous individual and corporate contributions, including the Nishan and Eskohee Abashian Fund.
2003
AUA and San Francisco State University (SFSU) sign a Memorandum of Understanding affirming their “common commitment to the values of intellectual freedom, educational excellence, and international cooperation.” The Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis is named with a generous gift from Mr. Jerry Turpanjian and family. The College of Health Sciences organizes a regional conference for public health faculty on competency-based education. Since its inception, 6,000 people have taken the Extension Program’s courses. The 8th World Seminar on Seismic Isolation, Energy Dissipation and Active Vibration Control of Structures takes place at AUA. Law Department students form an NGO (non-governmental organization) and inaugurate a series of forums and roundtables on current legal issues of importance to Armenia and its regions. A student loan program is launched, the first of its kind in Armenia.
2002
An all-AUA Master of Arts degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language replaces the “sandwich” program to better serve the growing demand for English language teachers. The College of Health Sciences accepts the Ministry of Health’s invitation to co-sponsor its School for Health Care Management and Administration. AUA obtains candidacy status with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
2001
A Master of Science in Computer and Information Science is added to the College of Engineering. The College of Health Sciences is accepted as a member of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region. The Digital Library project is awarded President of Armenia’s Prize for “the best IT project accomplished in Armenia in the last five years.”
2000
The Garo Meghrigian Eye Institute for Preventive Ophthalmology (GMEIPO) opens at the AUA Center. The Extension Program begins a four-year project offering English courses in Gyumri.
1999
The Environmental Conservation and Research Center begins offering a certificate program to second-year students who wish to include environmental research into their graduate studies. The Digital Library project begins developing electronic versions of classical Armenian literature. The Engineering Research Center launches an international solar energy project to heat and cool the AUA Small Auditorium.
1997
The AUA Board of Trustees appoints the University’s second President, Dr. Haroutune Armenian, and designates Dr. Mihran Agbabian as President Emeritus. The Certificate of Public Health Program expands into a full Master of Public Health degree. A “sandwich” Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language Program begins: students start the program at AUA, continue in the US, and return to AUA to write their theses.
1996
The Master of Laws Degree Program is initiated and gradually evolves to the current Department of Law, which offers a Master of Laws degree to lawyers and a Master of Legal Studies degree to non-lawyers. The Legal Research Center is established as an integral component of the Law Department, providing access to up-to-date books and Internet-mediated databases covering all areas of relevance to law-based governance.
1995
The College of Health Sciences is established, offering a Certificate in Public Health Program in affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Center for Health Services Research and Development begins operating parallel to the Public Health Program, providing technical assistance, research, evaluation, and program development assistance to the Ministry of Health and international humanitarian and donor organizations. The Center for Policy Analysis is established to conduct multidisciplinary applied policy research in a broad spectrum of contemporary social, political, and legal fields.
1994
The School of Political Science and International Affairs is established, offering a Master‘ s degree.
1993
The University holds its first Commencement, graduating 38 men and women in Business and Management, ten in Industrial Engineering, and five in Earthquake Engineering. The “Birds of Armenia” project begins its mission to increase environmental awareness in Armenia; several books are later published for community education and outreach, promoting birding and local involvement in environmental conservation.
1992
AUA establishes the Certificate Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to prepare English teachers; the Environmental Conservation and Research Center to provide a required introductory course on environmental science; the Engineering Research Center to conduct research in the area of Industrial Engineering as well as Renewable Energy; and the Center for Business Research and Development to provide “western” research and consulting services to the private and non-profit sectors. The AUA Extension Program is created to offer short courses and training programs for working professionals and the general public in Yerevan as well as the surrounding provinces.
1991
The University opens its doors on Armenian Independence Day with 101 students enrolled in the Intensive English Program. Within months, these students move into their respective graduate degree programs in Business and Management, Earthquake Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. Dr. Mihran Agbabian is appointed as the Founding President of the University.
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