Fifteen-Year Community Campaign Founds Chair in Armenian Studies

Harvard has just set another academic precedent by naming Robert W. Thomson, assistant professor of Classical Armenian, to the nation's first chair in Armenian Studies.

After a 15-year effort, the Armenian American community has raised enough money to endow the new Armenian professorships at Harvard. a chair at U.C.L.A., and a full-time program at Columbia.

Manoog S. Young, Chairman of the Board of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research said Armenian Studies will provide a better understanding of Mid-Eastern history. "Armenians have within them untapped primary sources, because they were known as the 'historians of the mid-east,' "he said."

Young claims the new professorship may also "enable the Armenian community to understand its heritage better."

The Cambridge-based Armenian organization launched a five-year subscription campaign in 1955 that raised about $380,000 for the new fund at Harvard. Over 1500 separate donations were solicited throughout the United States, with contributions ranging from $1 to $70,000. The largest donation came from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal, established by a famous oil tycoon, nicknamed "Mr. Five Per Cent."

The University provided an additional $100,000 from the Harvard Profit and Loss Fund, a reserve account that Young said exists in case bad investment returns make it impossible to meet departmental budgets with already-allocated funds.

Tommy Stephanian, the Armenian proprietor of Tommy's Lunch commented yesterday afternoon, "I'm glad to see that after all these years. Harvard's finally realized that there are Armenians around here. A lot of the citizens and businessmen around Harvard Square are Armenians, and they [Harvard] don't seem to know it." he said.

A friend of Tommy's added. "I'm glad to see that Harvard's finally becoming relevant."