About Us

(Inaugural Director Prof. Ann R. Karagoian)

The Promise Armenian Institute (PAI) was established at UCLA in late 2019, through the vision of Dr. Eric Esrailian and made possible by a $20 million gift from the estate of Kirk Kerkorian, the well-known Armenian-American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. The PAI is designed to be a hub for world-class research and teaching, not only in fields related to Armenian Studies, but in addition for coordinating Interdisciplinary Research and Public Impact Programs relevant to Armenia and Armenians across UCLA and with the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora. The Promise Armenian Institute’s size, scope and interdisciplinary approach make it the first of its kind in the world, and UCLA is ideally positioned to make these important contributions. Professor Ann R. Karagozian, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCLA, was named Inaugural Director of the PAI in early 2020.

Armenian Genocide Research Program

The Armenian Genocide Research Program (AGRP) was established within the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA in early 2022. Led by Taner Akçam, Ph.D., the AGRP engages in research and scholarly activities pertaining to the study of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century and provides research opportunities for PAI-affiliated postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and visiting scholars.

The inaugural director of the AGRP, Taner Akçam previously was the Kaloosdian and Mugar Professor in Modern Armenian History and Genocide at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Massachusetts. He is widely recognized as one of the first scholars of Turkish descent to write extensively on the Ottoman Turkish Genocide of Armenians in the early 20th century and one of the world’s most prolific scholars currently pursuing research and mentoring young scholars in this important field. Many of Akçam‘s publications constitute an unprecedented examination of secret Ottoman Turkish documents that show the deliberate nature of the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Akçam is the founder of the Krikor Guerguerian Online Archive and, together with the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, the newly established Vahakn Dadrian Archive Project.

Armenian Studies Research and Outreach Program

UCLA has a long history of scholarship and instructional programs in Armenian studies, including Armenian language, literature, and history, and these form the foundation of the Armenian Studies Research and Outreach Program within the Promise Armenian Institute. Previously, Professor Sebouh Aslanian of the UCLA Department of History was the director of the Armenian Studies Center, the prior name of this entity.

The rich history of Armenian Studies at UCLA may be traced to the early 1960s, with the initiation of Armenian language and literature courses. In 1969, the UCLA Chair for Armenian Studies (later renamed the Narekatsi Chair) was created by the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research with numerous additional financial contributions from the local Armenian-American community. The Narekatsi Chair focuses on Armenian language and literature, and was in fact the first endowed professorial chair to be formally established at UCLA. The late Professor Avedis Sanjian was named the first UCLA Armenian Studies Chair. The Narekatsi Chair is now held by Professor Peter Cowe, who was appointed in 2000. The Armenian Studies Program of the UCLA department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures was founded simultaneously with the Narekatsi Chair. Dr. Hagop Kouloujian, the Kachigian Family Lecturer in Armenian Language and Culture, provides courses in the Western Armenian language, and Dr. Tereza Hovhannisyan provides courses in the Eastern Armenian language.

Armenian History has been a long-standing field in the UCLA Department of History, beginning with the appointment of the distinguished scholar, the late Professor Richard Hovannisian, in 1969. In 1987, the Armenian Educational Foundation established a second endowed chair, this one in Modern Armenian History, and Prof. Hovannisian occupied this chair until his retirement in 2011. After an international search, Prof. Sebouh Aslanian was selected to occupy the newly renamed Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History, teaching courses in Armenian history at all levels and preserving a legacy of scholarly endeavor in Armenian history. Lecturer Dr. Mary Momdjian teaches courses in the UCLA History Department in middle eastern history and historiography.

In addition to two endowed Armenian Studies chairs, UCLA boasts several world-class library collections for a range of subjects relevant to Armenian studies, including the Minasian collection of Armenian material.

Scholarly research on Armenian Archaeology is funded by an endowment from the late Zaruhy Sara Chitjian and takes place at UCLA within the Cotsen Institute under the supervision of Dr. Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky.

Interdisciplinary Research and Public Impact Programs

Beyond research and educational programs in Armenian language, literature, history, and archaeology, UCLA is home to diverse research, scholarly, and cultural programs relevant to Armenia and Armenians.

Armenian Music Program

The UCLA Armenian Music Program (AMP) at the Herb Alpert School of Music is dedicated to the study and performance of Armenian music, offering public concerts, workshops, community outreach events, undergraduate courses, and fellowships for UCLA students to study and perform the diverse styles and repertoires of Armenian music. Led by Professor Melissa Bilal, holder of the Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture, the AMP provides an in-depth exploration of Armenia’s rich musical heritage. Professor Movses Pogossian, distinguished professor of violin and the founder and advisor for the AMP, leads renowned UCLA VEM Ensemble.

Operation Armenia

UCLA’s Operation Armenia is a coordinated effort of a dedicated interdisciplinary team providing immediate medical disaster relief and long-term humanitarian aid and infrastructure support to the Republic of Armenia. Implemented through the generosity, advocacy, and support of departments and centers within the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA, Operation Armenia builds on longstanding research programs and institutional ties with Armenia and the Armenian diaspora. Recent healthcare outreach efforts of two UCLA faculty, Prof. Alina Dorian (Fielding School of Public Health) and Prof. Shant Shekherdimian (David Geffen School of Medicine), have emphasized strengthening Armenia’s healthcare organization, infrastructure and coordination among medical and public health professionals. Beyond the research and outreach activities in Operation Armenia, the UCLA Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases hosts the Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) Clinic, the largest clinic for the study of this disease in the Western hemisphere. FMF is a rare disease that tends to strike Armenians, Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, Turks, Arabs and many other nationalities.

Social Sciences

In the UCLA Department of Sociology, Professor Victor Agadjanian pursues demographic and multidisciplinary social science research studies, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and post-Soviet Eurasia, including the Republic of Armenia. Special areas of focus include the effects of labor migration on family processes, health and economic well-being, with funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Engineering and Physical Sciences

In the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Professor Artur Davoyan pursues research on advanced materials and systems for applications in space, energy and communications, including nanoscale and two-dimensional materials, metamaterials, plasmonics, metasurfaces, optoelectronics and photonic devices. Prof. Davoyan has collaborations with the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia and has supervised a PAI-supported postdoctoral scholar from the NAS. Professor Ann Karagozian of the MAE Department, and PAI Director, studies fluid mechanics and combustion phenomena relevant to aerospace propulsion and energy generation systems. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Armenia, and serves as an advisor for aerospace engineering in the Armenian Society of Fellows.