In conjunction with the celebratory event NAASR held on May 6, 2023, marking the appointment of Christina Maranci as the third holder of the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University, we are devoting this Library Treasures installment to materials from NAASR’s own organizational archives pertaining to this organization’s pioneering effort to establish the first chair in Armenian Studies in the U.S.—or, indeed, anywhere in the Armenian diaspora in North America—focusing on the years from 1954 to the appointment of the first chairholder in 1969.
NAASR was launched in March 1955 to pursue a bold vision of promoting Armenian Studies by establishing endowed chairs at foremost universities in the United States.NAASR achieved this ambitious goal by establishing the first chair in Armenian Studies, at Harvard University.In 1959 we marked the successful conclusion of our Harvard Chair campaign at a gala in Memorial Hall. The Mashtots Chair was the first at Harvard to be endowed by a community organization.
In conjunction with the celebratory event NAASR held on May 6, 2023, marking the appointment of Christina Maranci as the third holder of the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University, we are devoting this Library Treasures installment to materials from NAASR’s own organizational archives pertaining to this organization’s pioneering effort to establish the first chair in Armenian Studies in the U.S.—or, indeed, anywhere in the Armenian diaspora in North America—focusing on the years from 1954 to the appointment of the first chairholder in 1969.
NAASR was launched in March 1955 to pursue a bold vision of promoting Armenian Studies by establishing endowed chairs at foremost universities in the United States. NAASR achieved this ambitious goal by establishing the first chair in Armenian Studies, at Harvard University. In 1959 we marked the successful conclusion of our Harvard Chair campaign at a gala in Memorial Hall. The Mashtots Chair was the first at Harvard to be endowed by a community organization.