April 24, 2003 Vartan Gregorian To Discuss His New Autobiography at the Library of Congress on May 19

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Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, will discuss his new autobiography, "The Road to Home: My Life and Times" (Simon & Schuster, 2003), at the Library of Congress at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 19, in Room 119, first floor, Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C.

The program, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Center for the Book 's author series, Books & Beyond. Tickets or reservations are not required. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, will introduce Gregorian and a book signing will follow the talk.

In June 1997, Gregorian became12th president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, the grant-making institution founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911. Previously, he was the president of Brown University for nine years and served as president of the New York Public Library from 1981 until 1989.

Born to Armenian parents in Tabriz, Iran, Gregorian attended elementary and secondary school in Iran and Lebanon, respectively. Majoring in history and the humanities, he entered Stanford University in 1956 and graduated with honors in 1958. He earned a Ph.D. from Stanford in 1964.

Gregorian has taught at San Francisco State College, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, where he was appointed Tarzian Professor of History and professor of South Asian history. He later became the university's founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1974 and served as its provost from 1978 until 1989.

Gregorian's publications include "The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization, 1880-1946" (Stanford University Press, 1969) and "Islam: a Mosaic, not a Monolith" (Brookings Institution Press, 2003). He is the recipient of numerous fellowships and honors. In 1998, President Clinton awarded him the National Humanities Medal.

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. For information about its program, publications, forthcoming events and the activities of its affiliates in 50 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at https://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

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PR 03-078
2003-04-24
ISSN 0731-3527