Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Editor: John Jabagchourian
A lifetime of work, dedication and achievement in Armenian studies earned Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, director of the Armenian Studies program at Fresno State, the Armenian National Committee’s honor of “Man of the Year” at a banquet on Sunday, March 5.
The day, which Fresno City Mayor Jim Patterson proclaimed “Dr. Dickran Kouymjian Ph.D. Day,” attracted much attention from friends, family and notables from around the world as well as a crowd of over three hundred people from the Fresno community who filled the Tor Nino’s banquet hall. “Being chosen ‘Man of the Year’ by the ANC tells me and my colleagues and staff that the work I and we have done is important enough to the community to acknowledge it and honor it,” Kouymjian said.
Congratulatory letters were received from His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Archbishop Mesrob Moutafian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, and close colleagues and family members from other countries, all of whom wrote to congratulate and acknowledge their respect for Dr. Kouymjian. “Your contributions to the field of Armenian Studies is so great, that you are not only the “Man of this Year,” but as a philologist-teacher-scholar, your works will for many years be a valuable and rich source for both Armenian and non-Armenian students,” Archbishop Moutafian wrote of Dr. Kouymjian.
The afternoon began with some welcoming remarks by the master of ceremonies, Berj Apkarian, followed by an invocation by Fr. Vahan Gosdanian, Pastor of Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and Mer Hyrenik, the Armenian National Anthem, by Hygo Ohannessian. A dozen special guests such as Mayor Patterson, City Council President Tom Boyajian, and others trying to gain support for their upcoming election were introduced.
Meher Chekerdemian, chairman of the ARF Tehlirian Gomideh, spoke of Dr. Kouymjian and his achievements. “Dr. Kouymjian single handily has brought attention to the Armenian culture by establishing an Armenian Studies chair at Fresno State,” Chekerdemian said. Fresno State Associated Students President, Arakel Arisian, who was asked to speak by the ANC, commented about students’ appreciation for Dr. Kouymjian’s work.
“Fellow students say he is a brilliant man, he knows everything,” Arisian said. “He respects students, and students respect him. “His contributions will remain in each individual who has taken his classes,” Arisian said.
Dr. Kouymjian, in an emotional moment, addressed the previous speakers and the crowd. “I am touched by the comments and letters,” Kouymjian said. “I am very humbled that you honored me.” With a touch of modesty Dr. Kouymjian said, “Teaching and doing research is so much easier than being honored.” Dr. Harold Haak, Director of the Maddy Institute and former Fresno State President, said, “He (Kouymjian) has been a distinguished researcher and scholar.”
Dr. Kouymjian earned a BA in European history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a MA in Arab Studies from the American University of Beirut, and a Ph.D. in Armenian Studies from Columbia University in New York. In 1977, Dr. Kouymjian was invited to Fresno to establish an Armenian Studies program at Fresno State. He also founded the Armenian student newspaper Hye Sharzhoom and the Center for Armenian Studies.
“Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno is now an integral part of the curriculum because more than half a dozen courses are a part of the General Education Program,” Kouymjian said. “More than 5,000 students of all ages have enrolled in our courses.”
Dr. Kouymjian has taught a wide array of subjects from Armenian, Islamic, and Byzantine history and art, to film, Genocide and Saroyan Studies. The wide spectrum of courses the Armenian Studies Program offers is matched by no other program and are taken by both Armenians and non-Armenians.
Currently Dr. Kouymjian is preparing an exhibit and catalogue for the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin on “Armenian Altar Curtains” which will be exhibited at the Textile Museum in Lyon, France in preparation for the 1700th anniversary of the establishment of Christianity in Armenia.
For the same Anniversary preparations at the request of Catholicos Aram I, Dr. Kouymjian is preparing an exhibit and catalogue titled “The Treasures of the Cilician Catholicosate” for the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, Switzerland.
The ANC’s program also consisted of a string quartet from Clovis West high school playing selections from Gomidas while a bacon wrapped filet mignon lunch, garnished with vegetables and red ripe grapes was served. “The lunch was delicious and delightful,” Talin Mekhitarian, a student attending the banquet said.
This award of “Man of the Year” adds to Dr. Kouymjian’s accolades as a scholar. He has been awarded the St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Medal by the late Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians, the highest honor bestowed by the Armenian church to scholars and writers. He also has been awarded the Fulbright Senior Lectureship by the US government to teach in the department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Yerevan State University in Armenia.
Dr. Kouymjian joins a prestigious list of honorees of the “Man of the Year” award. Previous “Man of the Year” recipients are Congressman Frank Pallone, Supervisor Deran Koligian, Congressman George Radanovich, Professor Richard G. Hovannisian, Baroness Carolyn Cox, Congressman Richard Lehman, Raffi K. Hovannisian, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Marvin Baxter and Congressman Chip Pashayan.
Kouymjian concluded his address by saying “I thank you for this honor and promise to continue to be deserving of it.” People then lined up to personally congratulate and shake Dr. Kouymjian’s hand. The ANC, which awarded Dr. Kouymjian and set up the banquet, is a national organization whose purpose is to promote Armenian rights for the Diaspora and to lobby Congress on Armenian issues.