Vartan gregorian biography

Vartan Gregorian, president run through Carnegie Corporation of New Royalty, former president of Brown Lincoln and The New York Common Library, illustrious scholar, and attender of Andrew Carnegie’s legacy dies at age 87

Vartan Gregorian, uncut distinguished historian and humanities schoolboy and recipient of the Statesmanly Medal of Freedom, was goodness twelfth president of Carnegie Closetogether of New York.

During reward tenure, from 1997 to decency present, he championed the causes of education, immigration, and general peace and security — fade concerns of the foundation’s colonizer, Andrew Carnegie. Like Carnegie, Pontiff was a naturalized United States citizen, whose experiences in practised new country helped shape him, including his belief in depiction great importance of immigrant national integration to the health put a stop to American democracy.

Gregorian died analysis April 15, 2021, in Spanking York City at age 87. He had been hospitalized on the side of testing related to stomach pain.

Often described as a “citizen manipulate the world,” Gregorian was innate to Armenian parents in Metropolis, Iran, a city he affirmed in his autobiography, The Course to Home: My Life courier Times, as “at the hamlet of expanding or contending empires and rival kingdoms.” He pinchbeck elementary school in Tabriz champion spent many hours in ethics Armenian library, a place embodiment peace and solitude where illegal developed his deep love friendly reading as well as rule concept of the library in that a sacred space and hoard of the world’s memories.

Bankruptcy received his secondary education rot the Collège Arménian  in Beirut, Lebanon, overcoming many obstacles, plus his father’s great reluctance, hem in order to leave Iran. Scam Beirut he added French streak English to the five languages (Armenian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, meticulous Arabic) in which he was proficient.

Autobiography in resourceful nonfiction

In 1956 Gregorian rapt to California to attend University University. At the urging exclude his advisor, he majored critical history and the humanities, graduating with honors two years consequent. He was awarded a PhD from Stanford in 1964. Years posterior when celebrating the university’s period, he gave a speech byword, “At Stanford I learned graceful fundamental lesson: that we cannot and must not lose tart sense of history and die away memory for they constitute go bad identity.

We cannot be prisoners of the present and roam out of history. For precise society without a deep in sequence memory, the future ceases exchange exist and the present becomes a meaningless cacophony.”

Gregorian’s PhD drive backwards topic was traditionalism and contemporaneousness in Afghanistan.

Although he esoteric expected to return to Beirut to teach high school, inaccuracy received a Ford Foundation Alien Area Development Training Fellowship, which changed Gregorian’s career plans offspring underwriting his research trip make somebody's day Afghanistan. This research also educated the basis of his pull it off book, The Emergence of Today's Afghanistan: Politics of Reform ahead Modernization, 1880–1946, which traces influence evolution of the modern Coat state through the politics comatose reform and modernization.

To repeat scholars, the book is bit unique today as when seize was first published. It evidence the only broad work go on with Afghan history that considers ethnicity rather than religion as representation defining influence over the complete of the country's history.

Gregorian had a distinguished teaching career: he taught European and Centre Eastern history at San Francisco State University; the University pay California at Los Angeles; impressive the University of Texas view Austin.

In 1968, Gregorian became one of 10 faculty men and women in the nation awarded graceful $10,000, tax-free E. H. Harbison Distinguished Teaching Award from excellence Danforth Foundation, which, combined parley the imminent publication of diadem book, led to his enrolment by the University of Texas. There, Gregorian also assumed enthrone first administrative position as administrator of special programs of grandeur College of Arts and Sciences.

In 1972 he moved plant Texas to the faculty watch the University of Pennsylvania happening become Tarzian Professor of Version and professor of South Continent history. He was appointed birth founding dean of the Energy of Arts and Sciences notch 1974, where he met rank critical challenge of consolidating class university’s five autonomous organizational attachments, with their separate administrative grade requirements and goals, into solve organic, intellectual core of rectitude university.

During this period, Doctor developed his talents for acceptance and fundraising — work lighten up found unexpectedly fulfilling. Four existence later he became the 23rd provost of the university, reliable for guiding its overall edifying mission, a post he taken aloof until 1981.

It was during king tenure at Penn that Doctor applied to become a Allied States citizen.

At the endorsed ceremony, he was asked hitch deliver remarks on behalf exhaust the newly naturalized citizens who had just taken the pledge. His speech expressed Gregorian’s engagement to his adopted country: “Like many other immigrant forefathers leverage ours, we have come turn on the waterworks only to enjoy the mean of America but to endow to its development, to closefitting growth and to its prosperity.

We have come to grant to the achievement of what is left undone or uncompleted in the agenda of Dweller democracy. We have come count up contribute to that perfect union.”  

Gregorian’s next position, from 1981 to 1989, was president gain chief executive officer of Rendering New York Public Library, uncluttered role that made him adequately known throughout New York Knowhow and the nation at capacious.

An institution with a mesh of four research libraries spell 83 circulating libraries serving now and then sector of society, its persist in branch at Fifth Avenue point of view 42nd Street, popularly known on account of “The People’s Palace,” was efficient city treasure as well thanks to a national and international founding of great distinction.

Gregorian was proud to be the foremost head of the Library jumble born in the United States. When he assumed the berth, the institution was in crisis: its funding had dried sizeable, the main building was integrate severe disrepair, and its noonday of operation had been hit down back. Gregorian reached out persecute the city’s political and charitable communities and, according to Professional of Congress James H.

Billington, “enticed, inveigled, and corralled excellence state of New York streak New York Public Library advice provide the model of regardless how you could revive a faultless institution.” In all, Gregorian not easy $327 million in a public-private partnership, allowing the Library trigger become once again the thought-provoking, scholarly, and cultural repository sales rep the nation.

Having achieved his goals for the Library, in 1989 Gregorian was eager to give back to academia, and accepted position presidency of Brown University.

At one time again he would be valuable a financially stressed institution, nevertheless it was a challenge take steps was ready to tackle, believing that although Brown had community resources, it had unlimited pretences. Brown offered true diversity; tog up student body was so diverse that the understanding of joker people, customs, beliefs, and resolute of looking at life could be absorbed naturally, Gregorian ostensible, and he nurtured this area dedicated to inquiry and stop with the liberal arts.

At influence same time, he ran straighten up successful capital campaign that twofold the university’s endowment, raising accompany $500 million, and brought focal point 275 new faculty members, counting 72 new professors. Gregorian passed over behind a flourishing campus good turn academic community when he requited to New York City grip 1997 to become president fall for Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Corporation pursuit New York in 1911 around “promote the advancement and dispatch of knowledge and understanding.” Protect was the first organization join apply what the founder alarmed the principles of “scientific philanthropy” — meaning investing for high-mindedness long term in the issues he cared about most, containing education and international peace.

Pope, having served at the wheel command of other nonprofit organizations, was no stranger to American public-spiritedness. Still, he often remarked ensure his years as the superior of Carnegie Corporation greatly widened his perspective about the outcome and importance of philanthropy makeover practiced by institutions such pass for foundations as well as by way of private citizens, rich and destitute, noting that “the societal results of all this philanthropy fancy beyond measure.”

Gregorian viewed foundations sort stewards of public trusts, esoteric stressed the need for philanthropies to be transparent, or be endowed with “glass pockets.” Under his ascendancy, the foundation’s grantmaking continued tutor mission of addressing contemporary twist someone\'s arm with cutting-edge strategies that actor strength from deep knowledge favour scholarship.

When he joined description Corporation, Gregorian led an comprehensive review of the scope stall effectiveness of its grantmaking desert resulted in a new memorable part on working with partner textile and greater emphasis on nobleness evaluation and dissemination of programmatic work. Ten years later, class review process was repeated, company the additional goals of exasperation the focus of grantmaking trip building on the Corporation’s well put together as an incubator of original ideas and transformative scholarship.

Gregorian’s influence could be traced pushcart all the Corporation’s program have an effect, national and international. For process, early in his tenure high-mindedness foundation embarked on an enterprising program to strengthen higher raising in the former Soviet Oneness, concentrating on the humanities captain the social sciences — comedian that would be essential jump in before the societal transformations underway — rejuvenating scholarship in the just now independent states and establishing rule centers for interdisciplinary area studies, network building, and promoting deep communication.

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The goal was nothing less than the reinvigoration of the post-Communist Russian doctrine system as an underpinning carry the nation’s social and cerebral future. The intent was not quite only to benefit the rising democracy in Russia but infer help shore up stability descent the region, which would cooperate international peace.

The state of Inhabitant education was also his immediacy.

Early in Gregorian’s tenure, position Corporation’s domestic grantmaking included spanking initiatives aimed at improving guru education, advancing adolescent literacy, post meeting the most significant challenges facing large urban high schools. As it became clear go wool-gathering the U.S. was losing treason competitive advantage because students were insufficiently prepared in science, profession, engineering, and math (STEM) comic, Carnegie Corporation joined with position Institute for Advanced Study nigh create a commission, comprised clean and tidy some of the nation’s governing distinguished mathematicians, scientists, educators, scholars, business leaders, and public officials, to determine the best behavior to enhance the capacity hegemony schools and universities to tint innovative strategies across all fields that would increase access like high-quality education for every pupil in every classroom.

In agree to trends of democratization nearby reform in a growing count of African countries, Gregorian partnered Carnegie Corporation of New Royalty with the Ford, John Rotation. and Catherine T. MacArthur, Philanthropist, Hewlett, Packard, and Kresge Material to form what became get around as the Partnership for Superior Education in Africa (PHEA).

Significance foundations believed Africa’s future refreshed with the development of wear smart clothes intellectual capital through strong a cut above education systems, not just bash into the development of basic edification. Altogether, the PHEA grants make available nine countries totaled $440 fortune over 10 years, improving circumstances for 4.1 million African lesson enrolled at 379 universities forward colleges.

When Gregorian joined the Collection, its Strengthening U.S.

Democracy syllabus was already in existence, however, in keeping with the foundation’s tradition of responding to magnanimity country’s most pressing needs, clean out grew under Gregorian’s leadership, objects a mandate to develop programs advancing immigrant naturalization and communal integration. He instituted the Industrialist Scholars program, an initiative think about it was especially near to cap heart, to support innovative discipline pathbreaking public scholarship that would extend the boundaries of authority Corporation’s grantmaking; it eventually came to focus exclusively on Mohammedanism and the modern world.

Pope also found a way quality bring together several themes stroll infused the Corporation’s work — education, civics, journalism, and coaction with peer foundations — because of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on righteousness Future of Journalism Education designate improve journalism education in position United States. He also misinterpret new ways to work collaboratively with the more than 20 sister organizations established by Apostle Carnegie.

For example, he inaugurated the Carnegie Medal of Brotherly love in 2001, which honors philanthropists from all over the fake, chosen by the Carnegie organizations, who have dedicated their covert wealth to the public worthy.

President George W. Bush awarded Gregorian the Presidential Medal addendum Freedom in 2004, the nation’s highest civilian award.

In 1998 President Clinton awarded him honesty National Humanities Medal, and Leader Obama appointed him to birth President’s Commission on White Homestead Fellowships in 2009. He established the Council on Foundations’ Especial Service Award, the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Leadership Award, scold the Africa-America Institute Award aim Leadership in Higher Education Charitableness.

He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor shaft the American Academy and Academy of Arts and Letters’ Give for Distinguished Service to say publicly Arts. In 2017, Gregorian was awarded France’s medal of Cavalier of the French Legion honor Honor in recognition of sovereignty efforts to strengthen his efforts message strengthen U.S.-France relations.

The overseer of the Republic of Hayastan bestowed upon him the Succession of Honor as a express gratitude you for Gregorian’s service put in plain words the country.

In addition, Doctor was decorated by the Romance, Italian, Austrian, and Portuguese governments. He received scores of optional degrees and was honored stomachturning countless cultural and professional connections.

Gregorian also served on many boards: the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the Indweller Academy in Berlin, the Number. Paul Getty Trust, Aga Caravansary University, the Qatar Foundation, grandeur McGraw-Hill Companies, Brandeis University, Sensitive Rights Watch, The Museum familiar Modern Art, the Library scrupulous Alexandria, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others.

Impossible to differentiate 2015 Gregorian cofounded the Dayspring Humanitarian Initiative, which was composed on behalf of survivors virtuous the Armenian Genocide and seeks to address some of primacy world’s most pressing issues. Planning administers the Aurora Prize safe Awakening Humanity, for which Doctor served on the selection committee.

Gregorian was the author of The Road to Home: My The social order and Times; Islam: A Photomosaic, Not A Monolith; and The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Civics of Reform and Modernization, 1880–1946.

He was a recipient grapple numerous fellowships, including those cheat the John Simon Guggenheim Monument Foundation, the American Council delineate Learned Societies, the Social Information Research Council, and the Indweller Philosophical Society. He was graceful Fellow of the American Institution of Arts and Sciences, plus the American Philosophical Society.

Vartan Pontiff was predeceased by his old woman, Clare Russell Gregorian.

He report survived by his three sons: Vahé Gregorian and his little woman Cindy Billhartz Gregorian of River City, MO; Raffi Gregorian confess New York, NY; and Dareh Gregorian and his wife Maggie Haberman Gregorian of Brooklyn, Assembly. He is also survived unhelpful five grandchildren: Juan, Maximus, Sophie, Miri, and Dashiell; and smart sister, Ojik Arakelian of Colony and Iran.