Haigazian University celebrates 70th anniversary in New Jersey
By Gilda Buchakjian Kupelian
The first celebration marking the 70th anniversary of Haigazian University, located in Beirut, Lebanon, was held by the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) on March 4, 2025, in Paramus, New Jersey, ushering in more anticipated tributes. Alumni and friends gathered for an elegant dinner hosted by the AMAA’s recently appointed CEO/Executive Director Serge D. Buchakjian and his wife Anita.
Upon warmly welcoming the president of Haigazian University Rev. Paul Haidostian, Ph.D., Buchakjian—an alumnus of Haigazian—referenced the university’s unique position as the only Armenian university in the Diaspora and “the jewel of the higher education system of the AMAA in the Middle East.” He underscored the guest of honor’s accomplishments during his illustrious 23-year tenure, describing him as “the definition of resilience,” and emphasizing his authoritative status: “When he talks, people listen.”
Rev. Dr. Haidostian is an AMAA scholar, academic and minister of the Armenian Evangelical Church. He is also acting president of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, president of the Armenian Evangelical World Council and one of the presidents of the Middle East Council of Churches. He enjoys the esteem of the Lebanese religious and political community, as well as a secular contingency of believers from all denominations, whom he reaches in fluent Arabic through his ministry.
Following the opening prayer delivered by Rev. Joseph Garabedian, pastor of the Armenian Presbyterian Church of Paramus, New Jersey and an AMAA Board member, Rev. Dr. Haidostian gave a presentation, highlighting 70 years of Haigazian University’s major achievements.
He began with the founding of Haigazian University, named after Armenag Haigazian, a theologian, musician, academic and linguist who was a victim of the Armenian Genocide. The university reflects “resurrection in action,” continuing its mission despite many challenges. The president singled out Elizabeth Webb, an American missionary who witnessed the massacres in Adana and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for Haigazian University. She purchased two buildings and offered them to the Congregational Church to educate Armenian girls in Lebanon. Those original accommodations were later developed to become the current site of Haigazian University.
Today, 43% of the university’s 600 students come from Armenian communities around the world. On average, 120 students graduate annually. Haigazian University is a welcoming haven of Armenian and non-Armenian impartiality, a multi-ethnic environment where students may have different political persuasions. It is a place where students leave everything behind and focus on academia.
The Haigazian (then College) Rocket Society launched the first rocket in the Middle East in the 1960s under the presidency of the university’s founding president Rev. Dr. John Markarian. The launch is detailed in a documentary and covered by global media, including the Smithsonian magazine: “By early 1961, Manoug Manougian (a science teacher at Haigazian University) and his team built rockets that could travel nearly two miles. A year later, Cedar 2 made it about 8.6 miles up. In a country unaccustomed to competing with the major powers, their successes were increasingly the talk of the town. ‘We were known as the rocket boys and treated as rock stars,’ Mr. Manougian remembers.” *
In 2020, the following statement was aired as a final question on the syndicated American TV game show Jeopardy: “In the 1960s this Mideast country had a space program and one of its rocket launches, the Cedar IV, is commemorated on a stamp.”
One of Haigazian University’s most successful programs is the Center for Continuing Education in various disciplines. Another noteworthy department is the Armenian Studies Program. Since the days of the leadership of Rev. Dikran Kherlopian, the first head of the Armenian department, the university has excelled in Armenian Studies, and specifically in the Armenian language. Since 1970, the HU Armenological Review has published 1,600 academic reviews in 48 books in Lebanon, edited and printed at the recently established Haigazian University Press, which already boasts 59 books. Proud of its Armenian identity, Haigazian University considers itself an “ambassador” for Armenian history and culture.
Partnerships with Armenian religious institutions, philanthropic organizations and universities globally have proven beneficial, including membership in the Association of American International Colleges and Universities (AAICU) and Consortium for Global Education (CGE).
Haigazian University boasts a cadre of professional alumni who have left their mark internationally in academia and education; politics and diplomacy; business and entrepreneurship; science and technology; healthcare and medicine; arts and media; and nonprofits and international organizations.
Plans are underway to develop research centers and provide teacher training for Armenian teachers around the world. Need-based and merit scholarships will be key to the university’s success. However, financial aid from various sources has dwindled in recent years, making funding a priority.
The dinner and presentation, in a convivial atmosphere, resonated with alumni and friends, promoting and supporting the “jewel of the Middle East” that is Haigazian University. The hope is that the community at large will heed the call, as well.
Rev. Hagop Akbasharian, pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church and principal of the Armenian Evangelical Secondary School, both located in Anjar, as well as a Haigazian University alumnus, delivered the closing prayer and benediction.
For more information about Haigazian University, please visit the university’s website at haigazian.edu.lb.
*The Soviets and Americans cumulatively spent over $30 billion on space projects in the 1960s. Manougian estimates that HCRS had to make do with less than $300,000 over the course of six years. Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 17, 2016.
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