Tweet
AMBASSADOR EDWARD DJEREDJIAN TO SPEAK AT NAJARIAN-ENDOWED LECTURE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2012/09/13/ambassador-edward-djeredjian-to-speak-at-najarian-endowed-lecture-on-human-rights/
September 13, 2012 12:43 pm
BOSTON - The third annual K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, MD
Endowed Lecture on Human Rights will be held on Thursday, October 25,
at 7 p.m. at Faneuil Hall.
Free and open to the public, the lecture is an endowed public program
of the Armenian Heritage Foundation, sponsor of the Armenian Heritage
Park on Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
In celebration of the opening of the Armenian Heritage Park and a
central theme of the Greenway - the immigrant experience - it is
fitting that this year's speaker is Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian,
founding director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy and former US ambassador to Israel and Syria.
A first generation Armenian-American and the son of survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, Djerejian is an example of the kind of achievement,
leadership, public service and commitment to human rights that this
endowed lecture series celebrates in this inaugural year of the park.
Djerejian has also worked to assist Armenia and Artsakh in their
transition to democracy and peace.
Djerejian served in the US Foreign Service under eight presidents,
from John F. Kennedy to William J. Clinton (1962-1994). Prior to his
nomination by Clinton as US Ambassador to Israel (1993-1994), he was
assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in both the
George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations (1991- 1993). He was
the US ambassador to Syria (1988-1991) and also served as special
assistant to President Ronald Reagan and deputy press secretary for
foreign affairs in the White House (1985-1986). After his retirement
from government service in 1994, he became the founding director of
the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
His book, Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador's Journey
Through the Middle East, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. He
has been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the
Department of State's Distinguished Honor Award and numerous other
honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Anti-
Defamation League's Moral Statesman Award. He is also a recipient
of the Association of Rice Alumni's Gold Medal, the group's most
prestigious award, for his service to Rice University.
In 2011, Djerejian was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, and named to the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York by its president, Dr. Vartan B. Gregorian.
"We are honored and pleased that the ambassador has accepted our
invitation to speak in this inaugural year of Armenian Heritage Park,"
commented Dr. Carolann S. Najarian who with her husband, George, has
endowed this lecture series in honor of Carolann Najarian's father,
Avedis Abrahamian.
The lecture series has been inspired by the New England women and
men - intellectuals, politicians, diplomats, religious leaders and
ordinary citizens - who, beginning in the 1890s at Faneuil Hall,
heard the eyewitness accounts of the atrocities taking place against
the Armenian minority of the Ottoman Empire during World War I and
were called to action. Distinguished Bostonians, among them Julia
Ward Howe, Clara Barton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Alice Stone
Blackwell, heard these accounts and were moved to assist the
Armenians. As a result, the American Red Cross launched its first
international mission, Armenian Heritage Foundation, with Barton
bringing aid to the Armenians. Philanthropists nationwide raised more
than $100 million in aid. This was America's first internationally-
focused human rights movement.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino are honorary chairs.
Co-chairs representing their participating organization are Charlie
Clements, executive director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy,
Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Martha F. Davis, PhD, faculty
director, Northeastern School of Law, Human Rights and the Global
Economy; David Hollenbach, S.J., director, Boston College Center
for Human Rights and International Justice; Michael A. Grodin,
MD, and George J. Annas, JD, and MPH co-directors, Global Lawyers
and Physicians Working Together for Human Rights, Boston University
School of Public Health; Shant Mardirossian, chairman of the board,
Near East Foundation; Margot Stern Strom, founder/executive director,
Facing History and Ourselves; Adam Strom, director of research
and development, Facing History and Ourselves; Deborah W. Nutter,
PhD, senior associate dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, PhD, acting director,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Human Rights and Justice; and
Joshua Rubenstein, Northeast Regional director, Amnesty International
USA.
Serving on the Lecture Committee are Dr. Carolann Najarian, George
Najarian, Dr. Joyce Barsam, Phyllis Dohanian, Dr. Linda Kaboolian,
Audrey Kalajian and Barbara Tellalian. The Armenian Heritage
Foundation, sponsor of Armenian Heritage Park, is a non-profit
organization founded to secure the designation and to raise funds to
design, develop and construct Armenian Heritage Park and endow its
public programs, including this annual lecture, the reconfiguration
of the park's sculpture and its ongoing care and maintenance. The
board comprises representatives from 13 parishes and 25 cultural
organizations within the Massachusetts Armenian-American community.
Honorary chairs of the foundation are Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and
Registrar Rachel Kaprielian; the president is James Kalustian.
For further information on Armenian Heritage Park and its programs,
visit ArmenianHeritagePark.org.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2012/09/13/ambassador-edward-djeredjian-to-speak-at-najarian-endowed-lecture-on-human-rights/
September 13, 2012 12:43 pm
BOSTON - The third annual K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, MD
Endowed Lecture on Human Rights will be held on Thursday, October 25,
at 7 p.m. at Faneuil Hall.
Free and open to the public, the lecture is an endowed public program
of the Armenian Heritage Foundation, sponsor of the Armenian Heritage
Park on Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
In celebration of the opening of the Armenian Heritage Park and a
central theme of the Greenway - the immigrant experience - it is
fitting that this year's speaker is Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian,
founding director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy and former US ambassador to Israel and Syria.
A first generation Armenian-American and the son of survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, Djerejian is an example of the kind of achievement,
leadership, public service and commitment to human rights that this
endowed lecture series celebrates in this inaugural year of the park.
Djerejian has also worked to assist Armenia and Artsakh in their
transition to democracy and peace.
Djerejian served in the US Foreign Service under eight presidents,
from John F. Kennedy to William J. Clinton (1962-1994). Prior to his
nomination by Clinton as US Ambassador to Israel (1993-1994), he was
assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in both the
George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations (1991- 1993). He was
the US ambassador to Syria (1988-1991) and also served as special
assistant to President Ronald Reagan and deputy press secretary for
foreign affairs in the White House (1985-1986). After his retirement
from government service in 1994, he became the founding director of
the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
His book, Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador's Journey
Through the Middle East, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. He
has been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the
Department of State's Distinguished Honor Award and numerous other
honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Anti-
Defamation League's Moral Statesman Award. He is also a recipient
of the Association of Rice Alumni's Gold Medal, the group's most
prestigious award, for his service to Rice University.
In 2011, Djerejian was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, and named to the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York by its president, Dr. Vartan B. Gregorian.
"We are honored and pleased that the ambassador has accepted our
invitation to speak in this inaugural year of Armenian Heritage Park,"
commented Dr. Carolann S. Najarian who with her husband, George, has
endowed this lecture series in honor of Carolann Najarian's father,
Avedis Abrahamian.
The lecture series has been inspired by the New England women and
men - intellectuals, politicians, diplomats, religious leaders and
ordinary citizens - who, beginning in the 1890s at Faneuil Hall,
heard the eyewitness accounts of the atrocities taking place against
the Armenian minority of the Ottoman Empire during World War I and
were called to action. Distinguished Bostonians, among them Julia
Ward Howe, Clara Barton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Alice Stone
Blackwell, heard these accounts and were moved to assist the
Armenians. As a result, the American Red Cross launched its first
international mission, Armenian Heritage Foundation, with Barton
bringing aid to the Armenians. Philanthropists nationwide raised more
than $100 million in aid. This was America's first internationally-
focused human rights movement.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino are honorary chairs.
Co-chairs representing their participating organization are Charlie
Clements, executive director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy,
Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Martha F. Davis, PhD, faculty
director, Northeastern School of Law, Human Rights and the Global
Economy; David Hollenbach, S.J., director, Boston College Center
for Human Rights and International Justice; Michael A. Grodin,
MD, and George J. Annas, JD, and MPH co-directors, Global Lawyers
and Physicians Working Together for Human Rights, Boston University
School of Public Health; Shant Mardirossian, chairman of the board,
Near East Foundation; Margot Stern Strom, founder/executive director,
Facing History and Ourselves; Adam Strom, director of research
and development, Facing History and Ourselves; Deborah W. Nutter,
PhD, senior associate dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, PhD, acting director,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Human Rights and Justice; and
Joshua Rubenstein, Northeast Regional director, Amnesty International
USA.
Serving on the Lecture Committee are Dr. Carolann Najarian, George
Najarian, Dr. Joyce Barsam, Phyllis Dohanian, Dr. Linda Kaboolian,
Audrey Kalajian and Barbara Tellalian. The Armenian Heritage
Foundation, sponsor of Armenian Heritage Park, is a non-profit
organization founded to secure the designation and to raise funds to
design, develop and construct Armenian Heritage Park and endow its
public programs, including this annual lecture, the reconfiguration
of the park's sculpture and its ongoing care and maintenance. The
board comprises representatives from 13 parishes and 25 cultural
organizations within the Massachusetts Armenian-American community.
Honorary chairs of the foundation are Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and
Registrar Rachel Kaprielian; the president is James Kalustian.
For further information on Armenian Heritage Park and its programs,
visit ArmenianHeritagePark.org.
From: A. Papazian