<\/a><\/p>\nWhile I am not aware of many of Armenia\u2019s current issues, it appears that graduates are meeting international standards of performance and setting the bar higher for all that follow. As they graduate and become professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders, they will define and mentor future generations with their example, vision, commitment and work ethic. AUA, through its affiliations, leadership and faculty, has an open window to worldwide academic resources, research, developments and trends.\u00a0 AUA can bring new ideas, awareness, and challenges from its worldwide access to its students.\u00a0 Few sources in Armenia, outside of AUA, can match what students, and the community at large, can learn, experience, participate in, link to, share in and benefit from at AUA.\u00a0 In this respect, AUA plays a crucial role in the future transformation of Armenia. A possible AUA outreach to the community might be to initiate programs designed to assist adults acquire practical skills in languages, business practices, networking etc.<\/p>\n
What would you like to pass on to future generations of Armenians?<\/strong><\/p>\nWhere Armenians have had the opportunity, they have excelled- they have overcome multiple obstacles and challenges, taken initiatives, created value and became leaders in many fields. AUA students have the same ability to accomplish such goals and will be counted on to achieve these goals, as long as AUA continues to nurture them and provides the necessary tools. I would encourage AUA graduates to collaborate with each other and adopt a \u201ccan do\u201d attitude. They should challenge themselves to overcome obstacles, excel in chosen fields and lead the development of Armenia\u2019s transition to become a successful and creative center in the region. Current and future generations must strengthen the ties between Armenian communities. I believe AUA can be an immediate catalyst and a strong contributor to this goal. AUA must reinforce the notion that Armenia really needs its students to assume leadership roles and think and act on a global scale.<\/p>\n
What are you most passionate about? Why? <\/strong><\/p>\nI am most passionate about seeing that Armenia\u2019s youth receive a quality education. Without a solid, global based education, there are limited opportunities for Armenia\u2019s youth to compete in today\u2019s world of global challenges, and limited opportunities for Armenia to develop and prosper. AUA\u2019s open, creative environment, provides a world class education, reinforces values and prepares its graduates to confidently enter world markets and compete effectively, thereby assuring Armenia\u2019s growth. AUA, in addition to providing a quality education, accepting the most qualified applicants, and assisting students through their academic years, must continuously reinforce the notion that AUA\u2019s students are also responsible for the future development of Armenia.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0About the Pillar<\/strong><\/p>\nHratch Kouyoumdjian was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1945.\u00a0 He attended Jesuit Middle School, High School and University in Baghdad, Iraq and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor\u2019s in Civil Engineering. In 1968 he was accepted to graduate school at The State University of New York at Buffalo and received a Master\u2019s of Science in Civil Engineering in 1970.\u00a0 <\/em> After working for several well-respected structural consulting firms in the US, Hratch joined Cygna Consulting Engineers San Francisco, a major consulting practice, as President and Chief Operating Officer in 1977. In 1987, he started his own consulting practice in San Francisco and Oakland, California, providing Structural Engineering & Architectural design services for many notable buildings worldwide. In 2015, he retired to pursue special consulting and teaching interests.\u00a0 <\/em> You can now find Hratch at San Francisco State University, where he teaches a structural engineering graduate course. He is also currently serving as a member of the Deans Advisory Council at SUNY, Buffalo, New York.<\/em> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What drew you to become involved with AUA? What made you want to become one of the 100 Pillars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100pillars.aua.am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}