Vartan Gregorian Images

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In April 2019 Vartan Gregorian marched in the Tartan Day Parade in New York City, surrounded by Corporation staff and representatives of other Carnegie institutions. For Gregorian the parade symbolized one of his longtime priorities: bringing together the family of institutions established by Andrew Carnegie — more than 20 worldwide — as a way of celebrating the legacy of their founder, including Carnegie’s journey to America as an immigrant from Scotland.

Vartan Gregorian with Big Bird during the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy awards ceremony at The New York Public Library in October 2017. Under Gregorian’s leadership, the Carnegie family of institutions created the medal to recognize outstanding philanthropists who reflect the values of Andrew Carnegie and his philosophy of giving.

Vartan Gregorian with Diane von Fürstenberg and her husband Barry Diller at the 2017 groundbreaking of a new Statue of Liberty Museum. Under Gregorian, the Corporation launched an annual Great Immigrants public service initiative to recognize the contributions of naturalized citizens, including DVF, who was named in 2007.    

Vartan Gregorian wears the Order of Honor bestowed upon him by the president of Armenia in 2017. Gregorian was also decorated by the Austrian, Italian, Portuguese, and French governments. He is seated next to Corporation trustee Edward P. Djerejian, who was also honored. 

Vartan Gregorian with Sam Nunn during the 2016 presentation of the Nunn-Lugar Award for Promoting Nuclear Security. Gregorian established the award in 2012 with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in honor of former U.S. senators Nunn and Richard Lugar to recognize individuals and institutions working in nuclear nonproliferation and risk reduction.

Humanity, with Marguerite Barankitse of Burundi, who was named the winner of the $1 million inaugural prize during a 2016 ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia. Gregorian was known for his leadership in support of democracy, human rights, and civic engagement, and served on dozens of nonprofit boards. He maintained close ties to the Armenian community throughout his life. 

Vartan Gregorian with General Colin Powell during a 2016 forum on immigrant access to higher education hosted by the Corporation and City College of New York. Gregorian was devoted to higher education and established research programs in the former Soviet Union and in Africa, the Carnegie Scholars program focused on Islam, and the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program for work in the humanities and social sciences, among other initiatives. (Carnegie image)

Vartan Gregorian, Afghan Minister of Information and Culture Abdul Bari Jahani, and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in 2016, displaying a box of hard drives that contain files of archival documents that were digitized as part of the Afghanistan Project. Under Gregorian, the Corporation funded numerous digitization projects in order to preserve scholarly works at libraries worldwide. (credit SHAWN MILLER / Library of Congress)

Vartan Gregorian experimenting with virtual reality goggles in 2016. A former history professor, he was a prolific writer and speaker whose intellectual contributions were recognized with more than 70 honorary degrees. 

In 2013 students invited Vartan Gregorian to visit his namesake public elementary school in Providence, Rhode Island, where he lived while serving as the 16th president of Brown University from 1989 to 1997. Courtesy: The Providence Journal

In 2004 President George W. Bush awarded Vartan Gregorian the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, describing him as “one of our most respected academic leaders.” In 1998, President Clinton awarded Gregorian the National Humanities Medal in recognition of his work to advance the country’s understanding of and access to the humanities. 

The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa was established in 2000, with Carnegie Corporation and the Ford, MacArthur, and Rockefeller foundations as charter members. The Partnership, whose mission is to work together to improve the educational capacity of selected African universities, had already well exceeded its announced goal of providing $100 million in five years.