PRESS RELEASE                                                      
December 4, 2008

Ambassador Markarian Presents Medal to Professor Smith

On December 4, 2008 Ambassador Tatoul Markarian presented Movses Khorenatsi medal to Professor Roger W. Smith.  “Today, we are honoring an individual who raised his voice for the truth,” stated the Ambassador at the official ceremony. Smith, Professor Emeritus of Government at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and Chairman of the Zoryan Institute, received the medal “for his considerable contribution to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.” Prominent members of Armenian-American and Armenian-Canadian Diaspora attended the ceremony.

The Movses Khorenatsi Medal was established in 1993 by the decree of the President of Armenia and is awarded by the President of Armenia to individuals “for their prominent contributions in the fields of culture, arts, literature, education, and humanities.”