LOS ANGELES—Professor Anahid Gharakhanian, a longtime member of the Armenian Bar Association, has been appointed as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at Southwestern Law School on whose faculty she has served since 2002. In her new capacity, she will be in charge of the overall academic program, faculty appointments, faculty development, and Southwestern’s self-study process, and will continue to serve as Director of the Externship Program.
As a member of the faculty for more than a decade, Dean Gharakhanian has taught legal research and writing and a unique course on Correctional Education, was instrumental in the redevelopment of Southwestern’s unique Legal Analysis, Writing and Skills (LAWS) program, greatly expanded the Externship Program to be one of the largest in the country, and served as Faculty Advisor to the PLEAS part-time day program. She is also Faculty Advisor to the Armenian Law Students Association and recently spearheaded efforts to create the new Southwestern Armenia Fellowship with the Ministry of Justice in Armenia.
Garo Ghazarian, Chairman of the Armenian Bar Association, remarked, “On behalf of the Armenian Bar Association, I congratulate Professor Anahid Gharakhanian on her appointment and I applaud Southwestern Law School for her selection. Professor Gharakhanian’s contributions to the legal community and to our Association are invaluable and wide-ranging. Her mentoring of so many of our new attorney members as well as our law student members is unparalleled and has been unheralded for too long.”
Armen K. Hovannisian, Vice Chair of the Armenian Bar Association, a former colleague of Professor Gharakhanian’s at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, and the Armenian Bar’s representative to the Southwestern Armenia Fellowship with the Ministry of Justice in Armenia, added, “Anahid is so many good things all rolled into one, most certainly a wonderful model for not only the student body of Southwestern, but to all women and men who aspire to combine positive meaning and purpose with the legal profession.”
Edvin Minassian, Chairman Ex-Officio of the Armenian Bar Association, credited Professor Gharakhanian with heeding the call to service and with playing a key role in bringing to life the vision of the Armenian Bar’s commitment to the rule of law in Armenia. “We look forward to many more collaborative efforts with Southwestern and, naturally, with Dean Gharakhanian, who we wish much success in her new and deserving position at the law school.”
In announcing the appointment, Dean Austen Parrish said, “Dean Gharakhanian is a very talented and dedicated teacher and administrator, and I am delighted that she has agreed to expand her administrative role, as we have a very busy year ahead.”
Dean Gharakhanian earned her B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her J.D., cum laude, at Harvard Law School and is a member of the California State Bar. Upon graduation from law school, she joined the firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP in Los Angeles. During her six-year tenure there, she handled the pre-trial phases of a variety of civil litigation matters as well as arbitration proceedings. Subsequently, she was appointed Vice President of E-commerce Development for an online retailer. She has also served as a temporary judge in Los Angeles Superior Court’s Small Claims Court and has worked on a pro bono basis in the areas of domestic violence and other family law matters.
Congratulations Anahid Jan! Not just an honor for an Armenian Lawyer but for women!
Vanessa Kachadurian: “Jan” is not an Armenian word. I know this may come as a shock to many, but it’s an Turkish word meaning “Hokis”. Perhaps we should get educated a little before accepting things as they are!
No, it is not a Turkish word: it is Farsi.
Armenian language has an abundance of Farsi words that we have copied from our neighbors and genetic cousins over thousands of years of living next to and amongst each other.
Similarly Turkish has an abundance of Farsi words that they present to the world as their own.
As with many other things.
Anahid is A new STAR and a role model for new generation of Armenians.
Considering Turkish Alphabet didn’t exist prior to 1923, I would say the influence is Farsi as we were part of the great Persian Empire.
The Turkish Language and alphabet is largely stolen from Arabic, Greek, Latin, Farsi and Armenian the languages and alphabets that pre dated them by centuries.
According to my linguistics professors in the middle east “Jan” means “everything”