Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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ROWN BEAR President Vartan Gregorian takes his place as the most recent component of Brown's enduring and unceasing vision of an innovative and COmpetitive university. The fact that the Brown community has so fully enbraced him and he them, most no- tably through his already famous bear hugs reflects the expectations for his abil- ity to help Brown continue to redefine its role as a college-university. Brown's expectations are, of course, rooted in what it knows about Gregorian's personal history, and a hope that he will bring aspects of that history to the universi- ty. Two of those aspects are his life as a scholar and his life as an administrator. Gregorian recalls having always loved books, and having done well at school. But it was by chance that he left his birthplace, Tabriz, when a French vice consul was re- $ covering from an illness at a friend's house. Gregorian remembers that they had played chess together. Apparently, the French vice consul was very impressed with what he saw in the young boy. Soon after their en- counter, this new acquaintance had written him a letter of introduction, and Gregorian was on his way to the College Armenien in Beirut. This was the beginning of a life that would take him rather far away from his Grandfather's caravansary. As Gregorian himself told the Brown Alumni Monthly: Without exaggeration, I am the first one of my family who left home in several hun- dred years. He continued his studies at Stanford. Once there, Gregorian worked Right: President-elect Vartan Gregorian at a press Conference in Maddock Alumni Center announcing his selection by the Corporation. Below: Bear hugs Vartan Gregorian and Howard Swearer embrace at the : announcement of Gregorian's presidency on August 31, 1988, BROWN UNIVERSITY five jobs and studied through the summer. He stayed at Stanford to receive his Ph.D. and tells stories about how he only needed two hours of sleep a night. It seems that these experiences would have required a great amount of energy as well as a little more than two hours of sleep, and the staff at the New York Public Library will remember the dizzying pace of work that Gregorian set for himself and expected of others. Beyond energy, Grego- rian is also a person of great emotion. He takes great interest in academics and peo- ple. This sincerity of his emotion has helped him in being a successful adminis- trator. Manuel Doxer of the office of the Provost at Penn spoke to the Brown Daily Herald about Gregorian's negotiating skills: T've seen people coming in griping' about something and by the time they walked out of the meeting they have smiles on their faces. He charms them. Brown is excited over the passion for people and academics that Gregorian is bringing to the office of the president. It is with great hope for the future and wishes of good luck that everyone waits for the com- ing years of the Gregorian presidency. 10President Gregorian

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Howard Swearer9

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ent Gregorian1