Founded: September 21, 1991 — Armenia 's first institution
of Western-style higher education with a commitment to teaching,
research and service.
Three-quarter system: Spring – start of the academic year,
Summer, and Fall.
Facts
About the American University of Armenia |
1991 |
The University opens its
doors on Armenian Independence Day with 101 students enrolled
in the Intensive English Program. Within months, these students
move into their respective graduate degree programs in Business
and Management, Earthquake Engineering [now suspended], and
Industrial Engineering. |
1992 |
Established are the Certificate
Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to prepare
English teachers; the Environmental Conservation and Research
Center to provide a required introductory course on environmental
science; the Engineering Research Center to conduct research
in the area of Industrial Engineering as well as Renewable
Energy; and the Center for Business Research and Development
to provide “western” research and consulting services
to the private and non-profit sectors.• The AUA Extension
Program is created to offer short courses and training programs
for working professionals and the general public in Yerevan
as well as the surrounding provinces. |
1993 |
The University holds its
first Commencement, graduating 38 men and women in Business
and Management, 10 in Industrial Engineering, and 5 in Earthquake
Engineering. • The “ Birds of Armenia ”
begins its mission to increase environmental awareness in
Armenia ; several books are later published for community
education and outreach, promoting birding and local involvement
in environmental conservation. |
1994 |
The School of Political Science
and International Affairs is established, offering a Master
of Arts degree. |
1995 |
The College of Health Sciences
is established, offering a Certificate in Public Health Program
in affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health. • The Center for Health Services Research
and Development begins operating parallel to the Public Health
Program providing technical assistance, research, evaluation,
and program development assistance to the Ministry of Health
and international humanitarian and donor organizations. •
The Center for Policy Analysis is established to conduct multidisciplinary
applied policy research in a broad spectrum of contemporary
social, political, and legal fields. |
1996 |
The Master of Laws Degree
Program is initiated and gradually evolves to the current
Department of Law, which offers a Master of Laws degree to
lawyers and a Master of Legal Studies degree to non-lawyers.
• The Legal Research Center is established as an integral
component of the Law Department; providing access to up-to-date
books and Internet-mediated databases covering all areas of
relevance to law-based governance. |
1997 |
The Certificate of Public
Health Program expands into a full Master of Public Health
degree. • A “sandwich” Master of Arts in
Teaching English as a Foreign Language Program begins: students
start the program at AUA, continue in the US , and return
to AUA to write their theses. |
1999 |
The Environmental Conservation
and Research Center begins offering a certificate program
to second year students who wish to include environmental
research into their graduate studies. • The Digital
Library project begins developing electronic versions of classical
Armenian literature. • The Engineering Research Center
launches an international solar energy project to heat and
cool the AUA Small Auditorium. |
2000 |
The Garo Meghrigian Eye Institute
for Preventive Ophthalmology (GMEIPO) opens at AUA Center.
• The Extension Program begins a four-year project offering
English courses in Gyumri |
2001 |
A Master of Science in Computer
and Information Science is added to the College of Engineering.
• The College of Health Sciences is accepted as member
of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European
Region. • The Digital Library project is awarded President
of Armenia’s Prize for “the best IT project accomplished
in Armenia in the last five years.” |
2002 |
An all AUA Master of Arts
in Teaching English as a Foreign Language replaces the “sandwich”
program to better serve the growing demand for English language
teachers. • The College of Health Sciences accepts the
Ministry of Health’s invitation to co-sponsor its School
for Health Care Management and Admin istration. • AUA
obtains candidacy status with the Western Association for
Schools and Colleges. |
2003 |
AUA and San Francisco State
University (SFSU) sign a Memorandum of Understanding “which
affirms their common commitment to the values of intellectual
freedom, educational excellence, and international cooperation.”
• The Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis is named
following the generous gift from Mr. Jerry Turpanjian and
family. • The College of Health Sciences organizes a
regional conference for public health faculty on competency-based
education. • Since its inception, 6000 people have taken
the Extension Program’s courses. • The 8th World
Seminar on Seismic Isolation, Energy Dissipation, and Active
Vibration Control of the Structures takes place at AUA. •
Law Department students form an NGO (non-governmental organization)
and inaugurate series of forums and roundtables on current
legal issues of importance to Armenia and its regions. •
A student loan program is launched, the first of its kind
in Armenia. |
2004 |
The university launches a
number of named scholarships, including the Turpanjian Family
Foundation Scholarship program which helps orphaned and economically
disadvantaged students at AUA and other Armenian Universities
as well as scholarships honoring Stepan Karamardian, Arpine
and Arda Hovnanian, Zaven O. Kodjayan, the Garmery Benevolent
Association, Richard R. Tufenkian/the Armenian Educational
Foundation, and Harry Kullijian. • The Speaker of the
National Assembly also established two awards benefiting AUA;
one recognizes an outstanding graduate, the other an outstanding
first-year student. • The Center for Research and Development
in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching is established
within the Department of English Programs. • The university’s
student loan program continues to expand thanks to many generous
individual and corporate contributions, including the Nishan
and Eskohee Abashian Fund. |
2005 |
Construction begins on the
Avedisian classroom building. • The university hosts
the accreditation team from the Western Association of Schools
and Colleges for its Capacity and Preparatory Review. •
The Turpanjian Family Foundation provides support for the
first Armenian Big Brother and Big Sister program providing
mentoring for undergraduates. • The US Department of
Energy awards a grant for proliferation prevention to scientists
at the AUA, the Yerevan Physics Institute, the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, and an optico-physics
Institute in Moscow. • The AUA Digital Library provides
the content of the most comprehensive 5-volume publication
of the Armenian Classical Literature from the 5th to 7th century.
• The College of Health Sciences graduates, with support
from the Open Society Institute, its first international students:
3 from Moldova and 1 from Mongolia. • The Master of
Public Health Program, College of Health Sciences hosts the
XXVII ASPHER conference with delegates from over 50 countries
and five continents. |
