Rubina Peroomian to Receive ANCA-WR Lifetime Achievement Award

GLENDALE—The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region announced Tuesday that it will be honoring Dr. Rubina Peroomian with its Lifetime Achievement Award at its 2012 Annual Banquet on October 28. Dr. Peroomian, a renowned scholar on the Armenian Genocide, is currently a research associate at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her doctorate degree from the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department.

The Lifetime Achievement Award of the ANCA-Western Region is bestowed upon individuals who have dedicated their lives to the advancement of the Armenian Cause in their field. Past honorees have included Dr. Richard Hovannissian, a world renowned historian and scholar, and Ken Khachigian, “the Lion of California GOP politics” and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, the last president to accurately refer to the Armenian Genocide.

“We are extremely proud to be honoring such a highly esteemed member of our community at our marquee event. Dr. Peroomian is an epitome of devotion to the Armenian Cause, and her life’s work embodies the spirit, shared by the ANCA, of pursuing justice through education,” said Western Region Co-Chair Nora Hovsepian.

Dr. Peroomian has published several books and has contributed myriad articles, essays, and entries, to scholarly collections, books, journals, and encyclopedias, in both Armenian and English. Her schoolbooks on the Armenian Cause are used as the main texts for schoolchildren in a majority of Armenian high schools in the United States and throughout the Diaspora. Furthermore, she has developed an age-appropriate Armenian Genocide curriculum for pupils from grades K-12.

Her publications are buttressed by her vast number of presentations at international symposia and conferences at the world’s top universities, international organizations, and government agencies. She has also made many public appearances as the keynote speaker of Genocide commemorations worldwide.

Her accolades extend beyond formal education and into policymaking, as well, where she has served on the Writing and Advisory Committee of Assembly Bill 1273, which created a human rights and genocide model curriculum for K-12 social science and history courses for the State of California Department of Education. Dr. Peroomian has also maintained a fruitful collaboration with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Armenia which uses her Armenian Genocide study guide on their website.

“I am moved to be receiving this honor from the ANCA,an organization with which I have worked closely and which I respect immensely,” said Dr. Peroomian. “I thank the ANCA for acknowledging my academic endeavors in the study of Armenian Genocide literature as well as my contribution in effective teaching of the Armenian Question and its history. It is my hope that in receiving this award, I can impress upon a new generation of scholars the importance of continuing this invaluable work as a powerful tool, an armament, if you will, in our national struggle for the just solution of our Cause.”

The 2012 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet, the main event of the Armenian American community in the western United States, will take place on Sunday, October 28, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. To reserve seats, visit ancawr.org/banquet. For all other inquiries, call 818-533-8587.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.