BELMONT, Mass. — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a gala on Saturday, October 4, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.
Celebrating NAASR’s seven decades building the future of Armenian Studies, the gala will feature a keynote address by Dr. Anthony W. Marx, president of the New York Public Library. Two long-time supporters of NAASR, Pamela Avedisian and Yervant Chekijian, will be the honorary chairs of the gala, which will be emceed by Dr. Nora Lessersohn and Dr. Thomas Simsarian Dolan.
NAASR was founded in 1955 and began its first major project of raising funds for the establishment of a chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University. In 1959, the goal of $300,000 was reached and a “Victory Banquet” attended by more than 1,000 people was held at Harvard’s Memorial Hall. The campaign for a second chair in Armenian Studies followed, at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and also met with success due to NAASR’s fundraising efforts.
After 70 years, NAASR remains focused on supporting and advancing studies and research through educational public programming, assisting scholars with research grants and access to materials through its Mardigian Library, and acting as a bridge between the academic world and the Armenian-American community, benefiting scholars, authors, researchers, and the general public. For information about sponsorship and purchasing tickets please go to http://naasr.org/gala70 or for questions email, gala@naasr.org.
