Children of Armenia Fund (COAF): How One May Achieve Excellence in Arts, Sciences, and Reasoning in Ways that Address Today’s Societal Needs

On July 7th in Manoogian Hall, AUA is hosting the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) for a discussion on ‘How One May Achieve Excellence in Arts, Sciences, and Reasoning in Ways that Address Today’s Societal Needs.’ The discussion leaders will be Garo H. Armen, Tony Shafrazi, and Paul Kaloustian. The discussion will dwell upon vital questions on the importance of arts, sciences and technology in the society and their role in the future of Armenia from the perspective of today’s youth. Each speaker is a  leader in his own field and will share his experience and valued thoughts on the topic. The hosts appreciate constructive discourse and discussion which lead to the generation of new ideas.

COAF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that uses community-led approaches to reduce rural poverty, with a focus on education, healthcare, community and economic development through child-centric programs.

About the speakers:

Garo H. Armen is a Turkish-born Armenian-American businessman, and the founder and chairman of COAF. Since its inception, COAF has raised $17 million on projects directed at reversing the ongoing impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of people in rural Armenia. In 1979, Armen received his PhD in physical chemistry from the City University of New York. Armen served as Senior Vice President of Research for Dean Witter Reynolds (1986–1989), focusing on the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and with E.F. Hutton & Company as first Vice President (1981–1986). Before entering finance, Armen was an associate professor at the Merchant Marine Academy and a research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Currently Garo Armen is the Chairman and CEO at Agenus which he co-founded in 1994. Under his leadership, Agenus has been advancing breakthrough scientific technologies and immunotherapeutic products for the last 20 years.

Paul Kaloustian studied architecture at A.L.B.A. (1997-1st Prize) and received his master’s at Harvard Graduate School of Design (March II-2001). He worked at Herzog and De Meuron in Basel before opening his office in Beirut. Paul has taught at the Boston Architecture Center (2000) and at the American University of Beirut (2009-2010). He received the Moukbel Award and the Order of Engineers and Architects Award. 

Tony Shafrazi is an Iranian Armenian and owner of the Shafrazi Art Gallery in New York. After moving to England with his family at the age of 13, Shafrazi attended the Hammersmith College of Art & Building. He attended the Royal College of Art from 1963 to 1967 before moving to New York in 1969. In 1979, he opened his first New York gallery. In 1990, he opened a new 13,000 square foot gallery with an exhibition entitled “American Masters of the 60’s” including works by Carl Andre, Tom Wesselmann, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol.