Southern Connecticut University elects first ever Armenian rector in US

Southern Connecticut State University will inaugurate its 11th president, Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D., on Sept. 28.

According to Courant.com, Papazian is the first woman of Armenian descent to serve as a college or university president in the United States. As part of her inauguration week festivities, an exhibition of Armenian artwork will be on display on the SCSU campus through Oct. 21 in the Lobby Gallery of the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts. An opening reception for the exhibit, which was curated by Vicki Shoghag Hovanessian, will be held on Sept. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Lobby Gallery.
The exhibit presents paintings, drawings and sculptures by 13 leading Armenian artists some currently or formerly based in Yerevan, Armenia, while others are in the United States. The artists whose work appears in the exhibit are Ashod Bayandour, Arshile Gorky, Sarkis Hamalbashian, Hamlet Hovsepian, Gayane Katchadourian, Vasken Kalayjian, Reuben Nakian, Vahan Rumelian, Ararat Sarkissian, Arthur Sarkissian, Shanoor, Kegham Tazian and Paul Zenian. Hovanessian, a prominent collector, curator and art adviser, was the former director of Vicki Hovanessian Contemporary Art. She currently represents contemporary artists of Armenia within Europe and America.