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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
AGBU NAMED AS BENEFICIARY OF $10 MILLION TRUST ESTABLISHED BY
PIONEERING SCIENTIST AND EDUCATOR DR. JACK MUNUSHIAN
George R. Phillips, 2005 Man of the Year of the AGBU Southern
California District, officially announced AGBU’s designation as an
income beneficiary, along with the American University of Armenia, of
the Jack Munushian Charitable Trust estimated at $10 million. Faithful
to Munushian’s wishes, Co-Trustees Phillips and Zouhrab Bassmajian
will select AGBU projects that support educational and other charitable
endeavors in Armenia and the Diaspora.
"Generous yet firm in mind and spirit, Jack was the kind of person who
remembered anybody that did anything nice for him and rewarded them
in kind," said longtime associate Phillips. "His superior intellect,
foresight, and humor, and above all, his humility, earned my respect
and admiration from the very beginning."
A hallmark to a legacy of intelligence, integrity and humanitarianism,
the personal and professional achievements of the late Dr. Jack
Munushian have long endured to outlive their maker. Innovative and
visionary in the fields of engineering, education and computer science,
his contributions to society engrained a lasting impression on his
peers and for generations to come.
Born in Rochester, NY in 1923, Munushian, a World War II veteran,
received a B.S. in physics from the University of Rochester in 1948. He
later went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics in 1954 from the University
of California at Berkeley, representing one of the first servicemen
to receive a doctoral degree on the GI Bill.
Employed throughout the 1950’s by Aerospace Corporation and Hughes
Aircraft Company as a scientist and manager, Munushian joined the
working world of academia in 1957 as a part-time lecturer at the
University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Engineering. Ten
years later in the fall of 1967, USC hired Munushian as a full
professor to develop its engineering program and, in due course,
he became the Director of the Graduate Center of Engineering Sciences.
Although formally trained in electrical engineering, the capable and
talented Munushian is credited for founding the Department of Computer
Science, now one of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s largest
and strongest departments. In 1972, his first year serving as the
Department’s founding Chairman, Munushian created the Instructional
Television Network (ITV) to facilitate the higher education of
engineers and scientists in Southern California via closed-circuit
television from the workplace.
"To an extent few people realize, we at the Viterbi School live in a
house that Jack built," said USC Viterbi Dean Yannis Yortsos, referring
to the building that Dr. Munushian acquired for the department. "Our
eminence in computer science and distance education grows directly
out of his hard work and foresight."
A precursor to today’s multi-billion dollar distance learning industry,
the tuition revenue generated by Munushian’s ITV enabled USC to hire
much of the faculty that shaped the engineering school into a premier
research institution. In 1988 when the IEEE (Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers) awarded its highly coveted Major Educational
Innovation Award to Munushian for his creation, the USC Viterbi
School had recorded more than 50,000 ITV enrollments. Munushian’s
ITV successor, USC’s Distance Education Network, remains an important
part of the Viterbi School of Engineering today.
In 1994, the deserving Munushian was conferred as Emeritus Professor
of electrical engineering, and recently in his honor, the USC Viterbi
School of Engineering established a newly endowed chair named the
Jack Munushian Early Career Chair.
Near retirement, Munushian’s health regrettably declined resulting
in the unfortunate loss of his sight. With resilience and unyielding
courage, he persevered to conduct his new life as loyally to his old
by setting up a special audio system that allowed him to "read" books
and newspapers, and swimming regularly using the ropes as his guide.
"I will remember Jack in his recent years as a survivor who vanquished
all physical handicaps and for his strong belief in the power of
positive thinking," said Dr. Mihran Agbabian, lifetime friend,
former AGBU Central Board Member and former President of the
American University of Armenia. "I also will remember him for the
many scientific and technical challenges that he faced throughout
his career and for all the valuable contributions he made to higher
education. But most of all, I will remember him as a person who always
did the best he could to brighten the lives of others."
Munushian’s devotion to charitable causes was unwavering as witnessed
by his lifetime support of the USC Swim for Mike Benefit, the Armenian
Assembly, the Armenian Church, AGBU, the Grtasirats Armenian School in
Aleppo, Syria, and named in memory of his friend Dr. Zohrab Kaprielian,
he renovated the Grtasirats Cultural Association Auditorium and was
responsible for the dedication of USC engineering building Kaprielian
Hall.
"I would like to express my gratitude to all donors of AGBU and, on
this occasion, pay homage to the memory of Jack Munushian who entrusted
the organization with such an important bequest. This bequest also
holds a special meaning as it happened during the Centennial year of
the organization," said AGBU President Berge Setrakian. "This is a
tribute to all the programs that AGBU has run for over a century for
the betterment of the lives of Armenians worldwide and the promotion
and preservation of the Armenian identity and cultural heritage. We
are only able to achieve our goals with such success through the
generosity of our donors and benefactors, such as the late Munushian."