Dr. Catherine Buon and Dr. Aleksandr Grigoryan Promoted to Associate Professor

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YEREVAN, Armenia – The American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to announce the promotions of Dr. Catherine Buon and Dr. Aleksandr Grigoryan from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. 

Faculty promotions in rank follow the procedure included within AUA’s policy regarding Appointment, Retention, and Promotion and Faculty Titles. The process involves a careful review of the candidates’ academic accomplishments including recommendations from academic professionals both within and external to AUA.  The process culminates with a decision for or against promotion by a panel of academics constituted from within AUA that independently reviews the candidates’ accomplishments. In these two cases, the panels unanimously approved of both promotions.

In a statement about the promotion, AUA President Armen Der Kiureghian stated, “We are very happy for the promotion of our two colleagues, whose scholarly accomplishments and services to the university and the profession have been exemplary. Dr. Catherine Buon has made extraordinary efforts in leading the design and implementation of the General Education courses for our bachelor degree programs. She has supervised scores of TEFL students’ capstones, many of whom have gone on to publish their work in conference proceedings and journals. Dr. Aleksandr Grigoryan is an accomplished economist and current president of the Armenian Economic Association.  According to one of the external reviewers of his case, he is ‘the best economist in Armenia, and most likely the entire region.’ We are very proud of our colleagues’ accomplishments and wish them much success in their future endeavors.”

Dr. Buon is the Associate Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Co-Director of the Center for Research in Applied Linguistics. She is an applied linguist and teacher trainer. She received her PhD in Applied Linguistics and her MA in French and Francophone Literature from Louisiana State University. She has extensive experience training language teachers, teaching EFL/ESL, and teaching French as a foreign language in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Buon has presented numerous papers at international conferences. She has also published in the areas of teacher training, testing and assessment, the teaching of reading and writing, as well as pedagogical materials.

Dr. Grigoryan has a PhD from the University of Turin and a Master’s degree from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna. Since 2009, he has worked in the Research Department of the Central Bank of Armenia, and has taught in AUA’s Political Science and International Affairs department. Since April 2012, he has also served as an Assistant Professor in AUA’s College of Business and Economics and College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In August 2014, Dr. Grigoryan was appointed Chair of the Master of Business Administration program. His research area is fairly large and interdisciplinary, involving income distribution, migration, transformation of industry structure, and selected topics in political economy. Dr. Grigoryan is also the President of the Armenian Economic Association (AEA).

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.