September 23, 2004

AUA Appoints Dr. Lucig Danielian Dean of Political Science

Oakland, CA – The Board of Trustees of the American University of Armenia Corporation (AUAC) approved the appointment of Dr. Lucig Danielian as Dean of the School of Political Science and International Affairs. AUAC Trustee and Chair of the Search Committee, Dr. Wlad Godzich of the University of California, Santa Cruz, noted, “Dr. Danielian has an outstanding commitment to the development of Armenia and a strong record of service to the University as Associate Professor, Associate Dean, and Director of the Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis.”

Dr. Lucig Danielian earned her Doctoral Degree in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. Dr. Danielian was Assistant Professor of Political Communication at the University at Albany, State University of New York, from 1988-1994, where she received a University Faculty Fellowship for research conducted on mass communication and democratic movements in Armenia, USSR. She has been the recipient of the Harvard University Goldsmith Research Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, an IREX Advanced Research Fellowship, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies Joint Committee on Soviet Studies.

AUA President, Dr. Haroutune Armenian, welcomed the newly appointed Dean, “We are confident that Dr. Danielian’s experience in Armenia and at AUA will help lead our institution into new directions and impact the development of Armenia and the region.” Dr. Lucig Danielian has been teaching at AUA since 1995, has served as the Associate Dean of the School of Political Science and International Affairs since 1999, and has developed the Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis into a beehive of activity and research over the last five years. She is an active member of several academic and professional organizations, including the American Political Science Association, and serves on the boards of several Armenian organizations and publications, including the Open Society Institute Armenia Assistance Foundation. Dr. Danielian has published in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science and the Journal of Communication, is the author of several book chapters and has many publications directly related to Armenia and public policy.

AUA’s School of Political Science and International Affairs’ primary focus is to provide analytical, reasoning and problem solving skills through the study of international, comparative, and domestic governmental institutions and processes. The School's approach is multi-disciplinary with strong emphasis placed upon providing students with a comprehensive understanding of democratic governance at the local, national, regional and international levels.