Cummings Foundation Grant Recipient
Cummings Foundation Grant Recipient
Book Talk

From Earthquake Tragedy to Beacon of Light

Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian
Date & Time
Thursday January 29, 2026 | 6:00 PM PT
Location
UCLA Engineering VI, Tannas Alumni Suite
Format
Hybrid
Register
From Earthquake Tragedy to Beacon of Light flyer
From Earthquake Tragedy to Beacon of Light
Featured Presenter
  • Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian
Date & Time
Thursday January 29, 2026 | 6:00 PM PT
Location
UCLA Engineering VI, Tannas Alumni Suite
Format
Hybrid
Sponsors
  • The American University of Armenia
  • UCLA Armenian Students' Association
  • The Promise Armenian Institute
  • Center for Near Eastern Studies
  • Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Studies at UCLA
  • Ararat-Eskijian Museum
  • Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA
  • UCLA Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • The B. John Garrick Institute for the Risk Sciences at UCLA
  • National Association of Armenian Studies and Research
Description

The presentation will start with a brief description of the December 7, 1988, Spitak earthquake that instigated the idea of founding the American University of Armenia. As a co-founder of AUA, Der Kiureghian tells the story of how the university was established during a most difficult time in the recent history of Armenia, and how it evolved and advanced during the subsequent three decades. The book also chronicles AUA’s affiliation with the University of California and its being the first university outside the United States to be accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Armen Der Kiureghian is President Emeritus of the American University of Armenia and Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering Emeritus of the University of California, Berkeley. His teaching and research are in risk and reliability of constructed facilities, stochastic structural dynamics, and earthquake engineering. Among other awards, he is a recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal, Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award, and George Winter Medal. For his efforts in advancing education in Armenia, he was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi Medal by the Government of Armenia and the Saint Sahak-Saint Mesrob Medal by His Holiness Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. Der Kiureghian is an elected foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

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