Founded: September 21, 1991 — Armenia 's first institution
of Western-style higher education with a commitment to teaching,
research and service.
The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting
Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association
of Schools and Colleges.
Three-quarter system: Spring, 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. |
| 2006 |
AUA is a founding member of the consortium of
American-style Academic Libraries of colleges and universities
in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East which is created
to implement collaborative projects in information resources
and technology that support teaching and learning. • AUA
launches the Turpanjian Rural Development Program, a major five
year initiative focused on economic growth through adult education
and rural entrepreneurship. • The Anti-Seismic Systems
International Society and AUA in collaboration with the Armenian
Association for Earthquake Engineering, holds an international
workshop on "Base Isolated High-Rise Buildings," Armenia
is the first among developing nations to implement seismic isolation
technology and pioneers the practice of retrofitting buildings
for seismic isolation. • Fifty-two doctors and nurses
in Nagorno Karabakh complete basic first aid and emergency skills
training organized by the Center for Health services Research
and Development as part of the United States Agency of International
Development funded Humanitarian Assistance Program for Nagorno
Karabakh. |
| 2007 |
AUA receives U.S. accreditation
by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of
the seven regional accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education, for the maximum of seven years. •
The Turpanjian Rural Development Program opens three field
offices in the Shirak and Tavush Marzes and in Nagorno Karabagh.
• Dr. Karen Aghababyan receives the United Kingdom's
prestigious Whitley Fund for Nature Award for research combining
environmental conservation research with education. •
The Armenian Virtual Science Library Project is initiated
with the goal of providing digital library services to the
Armenian scientific community. • The AUA Extension Program
joins the Microsoft IT Academy and IBM Business Partnership
and establishes a Hospitality and Tourism Training Program.
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