Couple leaves CSUN its largest cash gift
By Lisa M. Sodders, Staff Writer
LA Daily News
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
NORTHRIDGE — A former San Fernando High School art teacher and her
husband, who amassed a small fortune through real estate investments,
have donated their $7.3 million estate to California State University,
Northridge, officials announced Tuesday.
The cash donation from the late Mary and Jack Bayramian is the largest
in the university’s 48-year history — topping Disney CEO Michael
Eisner’s $7 million gift in 2002.
It will fund two scholarship programs, including $2.3 million in
student scholarships for the future Valley performing arts center.
“This remarkable gift from Mary and Jack Bayramian will empower the
university to support outstanding students,” said CSUN President Jolene
Koester. “The Bayramians, who were devoted to each other during more
than 60 years of marriage, now have extended that caring to improve
the lives of hundreds of students.”
Mary Bayramian, who died in November 2002, and her husband, who died
early this year, were born a month apart in 1921 — each the child
of Armenian immigrants. They both graduated from Hamilton High School
in 1939 and married three years later.
After serving in the Navy during World War II, Jack Bayramian worked
as a vacuum cleaner salesman and owned a Van Nuys electrical shop. He
then worked 20 years — as a switchboard installer, technician and
system troubleshooter — for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co.
Mary Bayramian was a homemaker who enrolled in college in her 30s. She
earned an associate degree from Pierce College, then attended San
Fernando Valley State College, which later became CSUN, early in the
1960s, earning a bachelor’s degree in art and a teaching credential.
She taught at San Fernando High School, where she was known as
“Mrs. B,” until 1970.
“They were very people-oriented people, especially Mary, when it came
to her students,” said Don Barsumian of Westchester, a nephew. “She
loved young people. She had high school photos from all of her students
that they kept in this album, hundreds of them.
“Her students loved her, and she loved her students,” he said. “They
believed in education and in giving young people chances.”
The couple lived in Reseda and Northridge until their retirement in
1971, when they moved to Laguna Beach. They invested in real estate in
the Valley and in Laguna Beach, where they bought fixer-upper homes,
renovated them and resold them.
Mary Bayramian suffered a stroke and died Nov. 24, 2002, at age
81. Jack Bayramian, who had Parkinson’s disease, died Jan. 29 this
year at age 83. Their only son, Ronald, died in 1998, but they are
survived by five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Their $7.3 million bequest will create the Bayramian Family Scholarship
Fund.
Earnings from $5 million will fund the Mary and Jack Bayramian
Presidential Scholars program, providing scholarships to at least two
dozen high-achieving upper-division students each year. Recipients
will partner with faculty members on scholarly projects and will each
receive a $5,000 award and other benefits.
The remaining $2.3 million will fund the Mary Bayramian Arts Scholars
program, the largest gift to date to Imagine the Arts, the fundraising
campaign for the $100 million, 1,600-seat performing arts center
planned for CSUN.
The CSU Board of Trustees also approved the renaming of the student
services building to Bayramian Hall in the couple’s honor.
San Fernando High School Principal Jose Luis Rodriguez said he hopes
the couple’s gift will inspire San Fernando High School graduates to
apply for the scholarships at CSUN.
“What a wonderful gift for CSUN,” Rodriguez said. “It speaks well
for the school, and for the family.”
Lisa M. Sodders, (818) 713-3663 [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress