US Fed News
July 11, 2009 Saturday 8:42 AM EST

PAMBOOKIAN AMONG FIRST-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS HONORED BY GOVERNOR TED
STRICKLAND

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio, July 10 — Shawnee State University issued the
following news release:

Dr. Hagop S. Pambookian, professor emeritus of psychology at Shawnee
State University, Portsmouth, Ohio, was among several first-generation
immigrants honored by Governor Ted Strickland for significant
contributions made to the state of Ohio. The honorees were hosted at a
reception recently in Cincinnati. "This celebration was especially
meaningful for me," Pambookian said, "because it was about ways that
we, as immigrants, have contributed to the diversity of Ohio and have
worked to bring about a greater awareness of international cultures
and issues. That has been important to me my entire life. I believe
the more we learn about other cultures, the more we see that we are
all the same – and the more we appreciate the world in which we live."

Pambookian, the son of Armenian genocide survivors, came to the United
States from Lebanon in August 1961 for his advanced degrees in
psychology, after earning his undergraduate degree from the American
University of Beirut (AUB). In the U.S., he received a master’s degree
from Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, and a
doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His
contributions to the state of Ohio began in 1987 when he moved to
Portsmouth to serve as associate professor of psychology at Shawnee
State University. He developed the psychology degree program and began
contributing to the internationalization of the University. He
initiated the annual "International Awareness Week" celebration;
organized and hosted visiting Fulbright scholars from Hungary,
Romania, South Korea, Russia, the People’s Republic of China, and
Armenia; and played a leadership role in the establishment and
operation of the Ohio International Consortium. Following Pambookian’s
year-long Ohio Humanities Council grant on "Perestroika, Changes, and
Developments in the USSR: What Next?" project, he played a key role in
establishing the first international exchange program at SSU with the
University of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. In May 1997, the Ohio
Education Association honored him with the "Paul Swaddling Award" for
his contributions to international understanding and peace. In
addition to his contributions to Shawnee State University, Pambookian
has contributed to life and culture of Ohio statewide and globally. He
has promoted the state of Ohio, as well as the U.S., around the world
in more than 20 countries, as international conference presenter and
guest lecturer at universities. Recently, he gave a keynote address on
"Psychology around the World: The Asian Experience" at the 2nd Asian
Psychological Association Convention in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and,
earlier, on the "International Dimensions of Psychology for a New
Century" at the 56th Annual Convention of the International Council of
Psychologists in Melbourne, Australia. For his U.S. and international
involvement and contributions, Pambookian has been honored by various
professional and civic organizations. He is a Fellow of the American
Psychological Association and an Emeritus Member of the Phi Delta
Kappa, an international association for educators. He has been elected
a foreign member of the International Academy of Psychological
Sciences in Yaroslavl, Russia; the Armenian Philosophical Academy in
Yerevan, Armenia; and the Academy of Pedagogical-Psychological
Sciences in Yerevan, Armenia. Pambookian has been a Senior Fulbright
Fellow, 1978-79, in the USSR and taught psychology at the Yerevan
State University in Yerevan, Armenia. He was the first U.S. scholar to
receive a nine-month long Fulbright Award for the Soviet Union and the
first Fulbright Fellow to teach psychology in the Republic of
Armenia. As part of his ongoing donations and commitment to
scholarship, the "Pambookian Foundation" was initiated and the
Fundamental Library of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, the Republic
of Armenia, now has more than 3,300 English language psychology books
and various psychology journals Pambookian donated. "Just as I believe
we learn from other cultures, I also believe people and social
scientists in other countries can learn from the western point of
view," Pambookian said. "By sharing knowledge, experiences, and
cultures, the world becomes a better place."