NORTHRIDGE : Donor Funds CSUN Armenian Studies

Hermine Mahseredjian offers a concise explanation for why she’s taught Armenian at Cal State Northridge without a paycheck for the last four years.

“My ancestors, while in exile on the burning sands, taught Armenian,” she said. “If I do it at the university level today, it’s a luxury.”

Mahseredjian’s devotion has been rewarded by a wealthy Michigan philanthropist, Alex Manoogian, who this month donated $25,000 to CSUN to create a Program of Armenian Studies within the CSUN Foreign Languages and Literature Department.

The grant means that Mahseredjian’s volunteer days are over. She will be paid to teach two sections of beginning Armenian next fall, and a course in English on Armenian culture the following semester. The grant will also pay for visiting speakers and musicians, said outgoing department chairwoman Maja Reid.

Edmond Azadian, personal assistant to the 93-year-old philanthropist, said Manoogian will consider renewing the grant if the program is a success.

Manoogian is an Armenian who made his fortune in the automotive, furniture and plumbing industries. His foundation, the Alex and Marie Manoogian Foundation, has supported Armenian studies programs at universities across the country, Azadian said.

Mahseredjian said many Armenians like herself fear that the Armenian language and culture is dying. The San Fernando Valley is home to a large number of Armenians, many of whom were living in exile in other countries before emigrating to the United States.

Since Mahseredjian, who also works part time as an elementary school psychologist, started teaching Armenian language classes at CSUN, she has had up to 80 sign up each semester.