PRESS RELEASE
December 8, 2004
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: armecon@speakeasy.net; Web:

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