Western Diocese

The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America will hold “An Evening with Richard Hovannisian” at 8:00PM on Friday, February 16, 2007. The event, under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, will honor Dr. Richard Hovannisian’s life and contributions to the Armenian community.

Dr. Hovannisian has been on the faculty at UCLA since 1962, and has organized both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian history there.  He has been faculty advisor to numerous graduate student who have continued on to receive their doctorates in Armenia history.  For more than forty years he has been the foremost teacher and educator in the field of modern Armenian history. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including membership in the Armenian National Academy of Sciences and honorary doctorates from Yerevan State University and Karabagh State University. He is currently the Armenian Educational Foundation Professor of Modern Armenian History at UCLA.

The community is cordially invited to attend the reception, which will be held at the Western Diocese headquarters, 3325 N. Glenoaks Bld, in Burbank.

Archbishop Derderian will preside over the evening’s activities. Dr. Maral Yeranossian-Babian will serve as the Master of Ceremonies and will be joined by Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, who will present a biography of Dr. Hovannisian, and Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, who will introduce some of Dr. Hovannisian’s scholarly publications. Both Der Mugrdechian and Shemmassian are Dr. Hovannisian’s former students at UCLA.

An exciting cultural program is being planned which will include popular songs by Garnik Badalian, and performances by several local dance groups. Dr. Hovannisian’s books will be presented to the public after the cultural program.

For more information contact the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, 818-558-7474.