PAMBOOKIAN RECEIVES AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN PSYCHOLOGY
University Chronicle
Nov 12 2009
Professor Emeritus Hagop Pambookian received the OPA’s Lifetime
Achievement in Psychology Award.
Dr. Hagop S. Pambookian, emeritus professor of psychology at SSU,
has been with the university 22 years and has accomplished more than
most people do in a lifetime.
A first-generation immigrant from Lebanon and son of Armenian
genocide survivors, Pambookian earned his undergraduate degree from
the American University of Beirut and chose to come to the United
States from Lebanon in Aug. 1961 to earn his advanced psychology
degrees. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University
Teachers College (New York City) and his doctorate degree from the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
When SSU became a four-year university in 1986, it did not have
a proper psychology degree program. Pambookian helped establish
and shape the psychology program following his association with the
university in 1987, including designing new courses, which helped in
the creation of SSU’s psychology degree.
Pambookian developed the annual "International Awareness Week"
celebration, which had visiting scholars from Hungary, Romania,
South Korea, China, Armenia and Russia as guest lecturers for the
university and the people of Scioto County.
He received SSU’s first major grant from the Ohio Humanities Council
to fund his "Perestroika, Changes and Developments in the USSR: What
Next?" project. He also helped initiate internationalization programs
at Shawnee State.
Pambookian, along with former SSU President Clive C. Veri, started a
student exchange program with students from the University of Nizhny
Novgorod in Russia in 1992.
"The exchange went very well," Pambookian said. "We have had several
more exchange programs with other universities since, with students
coming from other countries."
In May 1997, the Ohio Education Association honored him with the Paul
Swaddling Award for his international involvement and his contributions
to international understanding and peace.
While he was still teaching, Pambookian established the Dr. Hagop S.
Pambookian Scholarship which is awarded to a senior student majoring
in psychology and/or to an international student who come to Portsmouth
to earn his or her degree at SSU.
"I wanted to encourage and help support deserving students financially
in their academic and scholarly pursuits and endeavors," Pambookian
said. "I thought this would be a good way of encouraging psychology and
international students to pursue their education following graduation
from SSU. And hopefully my scholarships will excite other SSU faculty
members so that they look into establishing similar scholarships to
help SSU students."
Pambookian’s love for helping others benefit in their academic careers
does not just extend to SSU, but also to the Armenian Academy of
Sciences in Yerevan, Armenia. He created the Pambookian Foundation
at the academy’s Fundamental Library, which features more than 3,300
English language psychology books and various psychology journals,
all of which were donated by Pambookian.
"There were very few English language psychology books in Armenia,"
Pambookian said. "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 has been a Senior Fulbright fellow, 1978-79, in the Soviet
Union and taught psychology at Yerevan State University in Yerevan,
Armenia. He was the first senior Fulbright scholar to receive a
nine month long fellowship in the Soviet Union, and also the first
Fulbright fellow to teach psychology in the republic of Armenia.
Pambookian has visited over 30 countries to give lectures at
universities and psychology conventions. He has also been interviewed
on live radio in Melbourne, Australia and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Recently he gave a keynote address on "Psychology around the World:
The Asian Experience" at the second Asian Psychological Association
convention in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In June 2009, Pambookian was in Mexico City to give a keynote address
on "Errors in Psychology Textbooks" at the International Council of
Psychologists convention, of which he had been a board member.
A month later he attended the American Psychological Association’s
convention, of which of which he is a Fellow, and gave a keynote
lecture titled "Citation and Reference Inaccuracy in Psychology
Publications."
Last May, Pambookian was one of several first generation immigrants
honored by Gov. Ted Strickland for making significant contributions
to Ohio.
"Ted Strickland and I have known one another for years," Pambookian
said. "He taught Psychology here, and has always been a good friend
and colleague."
His most recent award was from the Ohio Psychological Association,
which had its sixtieth anniversary convention in Columbus. He was
awarded the Lifetime Achievement by a Psychologist Award for his
years of contribution to the field of psychology. His plaque states
"In recognition of your outstanding achievement to advance psychology
as a science and profession by a lifetime of outstanding contributions
to the field."
"I do not do my work to win awards, I just want to see the field
progress as much as possible," Pambookian said. "It is, however,
a truly humbling experience."