Ambassador Arman Kirakossian Visits San Francisco Bay Area Armenian American Community

On November 28, 2004, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Arman Kirakossian visited San Francisco to participate in an event hosted by the Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund for Armenia (IGEFA), a recently founded charitable organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. IGEFA presented its report on the activities during its first year of existence. The mission of IGEFA is to support academic and cultural institutions and to help improve the quality of education in Armenia. IGEFA officially announced its founding in February of 2004 in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, a ceremony attended by the Rector of Yerevan State University Dr. Radik Martirossian. Last October, the IGEFA held its first official ceremony of scholarship awards in the Scientific Council Auditorium of YSU in Yerevan. IGEFA Board members and representatives introduced the fund and its plans to the university administration, faculty, students and other guests of the ceremony.

Having set its mission to support academic and cultural institutions and to help improve the quality of education in Armenia, the Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund has awarded seven student scholarships, conducted professional training, helped to enhance the professional library, and donated equipment to the Psychology Department of the preeminent institution of higher education in Armenia, the Yerevan State University. The choice of Yerevan State University was not accidental as many of IGEFA’s Directors are YSU alumni, and some of them previously worked at this university.

IGEFA's Chairperson, Dr. Ruzanna Ohanjanian is a former Associate Professor of Psychology at YSU and currently practicing psychotherapist in California. In collaboration with the faculty and administration, she is developing an advanced curriculum for the Psychology Department and organizing a Psychology Training Center for graduate and undergraduate students, with integrated training experiences in variety of topical areas as well as student peer counseling services. In addition, IGEFA is working with several Armenian and U.S. high-tech companies to provide research grants for the Computer Science Department at YSU. IGEFA further plans to expand its activities to other Departments of YSU in the near future.

Addressing the participants of the event, Ambassador Arman Kirakossian praised the organizers and supporters of the Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund for Armenia for the significant headway they had been able to make during such a short period of time.

The November 28 event was attended by representatives of the Bay Area Armenian-American community, academics, as well as by Russia’s Consul General in San Francisco Victor Lizun, Consul General in New York Sergey V. Garmonin, and Deputy Consul General in San Francisco Yuri Bedjanian.

For more information on the Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund for Armenia, please visit www.igefa.org