Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian, President of the American University of Armenia (AUA) visited the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America on July 18, 2017. Dr. Der Kiureghian, who was accompanied by Mrs. Aline Barsoumian, AUA’s Assistant Director of Development of Annual Giving and Engagement, met with the Diocesan Primate.

Diocesan Council member Dr. Kris Mirzayan and the Diocese’s Executive Director Dn. Harout Markarian also participated in the meeting. Dr. Mirzayan will be spending the Fall 2017 Semester at A.U.A. as a "Visiting Faculty".

AUA’s innovative youth programs such as “One Semester at AUA” and “AUA’s Summer Program” were introduced. His Eminence offered ways by which the Diocesan youth could be actively engaged in the life of AUA through Diocese’s CYMA internship program.  The Primate also noted the active involvement of the Western Diocese in the life of the prestigious university through the AUA-Western Diocese collaborative efforts. To support AUA's noble mission of molding the future generation of leaders and innovators, the Primate also noted the generous support of a group of dedicated Diocesan donors and benefactors committed to carrying out AUA’s mission.

His Eminence thanked his guests for their cordial visit noting the academic excellence provided by AUA to the visionaries of Armenia. The Primate’s esteemed guests expressed their gratitude to the spiritual leader for his support throughout the years.