Honorary Doctorate

President Papazian and her husband, Dr. Dennis Papazian, were recently awarded honorary doctorates by the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) in Yerevan, Armenia. The University was observing the 90th anniversary of its founding, and it marked the occasion by recognizing leaders from a number of universities with which it has international agreements, including institutions in France, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the United States. Dennis Papazian was recognized for establishing and heading an endowed Armenian studies and research center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for 20 years.
Rouben Mirzakhanyan, rector (president) of ASPU, attended President Papazian’s inauguration as Southern’s president in September 2012, and since that time, he and Papazian have been exploring the possibility of establishing a student/faculty exchange program between the two universities. ASPU has the same teacher-education foundations as Southern and a similar mission. Southern already has established partnerships with several overseas institutions, and a connection with ASPU is one that Papazian would like to develop.