Outstanding Citizen Achievement Citation
USAID RECOGNIZES LOCAL ARMENIAN-AMERICAN FOR INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER
EFFORTS
Rita Balian Commended for Her Humanitarian Efforts Abroad
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| Keith Simmons (on the Left),
Director, USAID Armenia Mission Director, and Dr. Kent R. Hill,
USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe & Eurasia presenting
the award to Rita Balian, President & CEO of AACA & Founder
of the Armenian American Wellness Center (AAWC) in Armenia,
previously known as the Armenian American Mammography University
Center
(AAMUC). (Photo by David Davtian) |
| |
 |
| Rita Balian flanked by US and
Armenian Government dignitaries. From Left to Right: H.E. Michael
Lemmon, former US Ambassador to Armenia; Keith Simmons, USAID
Armenian Mission Director; Frederick W. Schieck, USAID Deputy
Administrator; Vartkess Balian, President of Tekeyan Cultural
Association, USA & Canada; The Hon. former Congresswoman Connie
Morella (R-MD); H.E. Arman Kirakossian, Armenian Ambassador
to USA and H.E. Harry Gilmore, First US Ambassador to Armenia.
(Photo
by David Davtian) |
| |
 |
| US medical specialist volunteers
who have played a major role in the establishment of the Armenian
American Wellness
Center (AAWC) in Armenia. They are all members of AAWC Medical
Advisory Board. From Left to Right: Michelle M. Parsons,
R.T. R.N. Mammography Technologist from Ohio; Dr. Kent R. Hill,
USAID
Assistant
Administrator
for Europe & Eurasia; Dr. Susan Blumenthal, US Assistant Surgeon
General & Rear Admiral, (US Department of Health and Human Cervices);
Rita Balian, Founder of AAWC; Dr. Ann Archer, Radiologist from
Washington Hospital Center and Chair of Medical Advisory Board;
Keith Simmons,
USAID Armenia Mission Director; Prof. Julia Albright, Immunologist
from George Washington University Medical Center; Dr. Emma Zargarian,
OBGYN from Greater Baltimore Medical Center & Johns Hopkins University
Center and Medical Center and Jasna Basaric Keys, M.P.H. Health
Officer from IRD. (Photo by David Davtian) |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Arlington, Virginia businesswoman and humanitarian
activist Rita Balian received the USAID Outstanding Citizen Achievement
Award in a public ceremony at the USAID headquarters today in Washington,
D.C. Ms. Balian received the award in recognition of her volunteer efforts
in Armenia. Dr. Kent R. Hill, USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe
and Eurasia, presented Ms. Balian with the award at a ceremony today at
the USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C. USAID Deputy Administrator
Frederick W. Shieck and Armenian Ambassador to the United States Arman
Kirakossian also spoke at the event.
Rita Balian has distinguished herself through her efforts to improve
the lives of people, in particular women and children, in Armenia. Among
her other achievements, Ms. Balian founded the Armenian American Cultural
Association (AACA), a non-profit organization through which she initiated
and organized the Armenian American Mammography University Center (AAMUC)
in Yerevan, Armenia, which was opened in April 1997. Renamed the Armenian
American Wellness Center (AAWC) in January 2002, this center is credited
with having provided mammography screening to over 40,000 women and saved
the lives of nearly 1,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer. Ms. Balian
currently serves as president of the center’s Board of Directors,
in charge of overseeing the AAWC’s operations, development and expansion.
“Rita Balian exemplifies the definition of volunteerism in America,”
said Dr. Hill during the ceremony. “It is contributions such as
Rita’s which show the true human spirit of coming together to help
those in need during times of crisis and despair.”
Ms. Balian has been noted for her work assisting the people of Armenia
following a devastating earthquake in 1988. In addition to her various
humanitarian efforts to help Armenians during this period, she worked
with the Mayor of Alexandria, VA and other local officials to realize
a sister city exchange program between Alexandria and the Armenian city
of Gyumri. Ms. Balian and her husband Vartkess have been tireless supporters
of education in Armenia, sponsoring many educational institutions, including
an elementary school which opened in 1995 in the Armenian village of Karpi.
Also that year Ms. Balian established an endowment fund with the Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU) to benefit various U.S. and Armenian higher
education programs.
In 2002 Ms. Balian received the Armenian Church’s highest award,
the St. Nersess Shnorhali Medal. She has also been honored for her work
by the American Red Cross and the Armenian government for her extensive
assistance to the people of Armenia after the 1988 earthquake. She holds
honorary doctoral degrees from the Yerevan State University of Armenia,
the Yerevan State Medical University of Armenia, and the Gavar State University
of Armenia.
USAID’s Outstanding Citizen Achievement Award recognizes volunteerism
in international development. USAID’s goal with this award is to
increase the public’s awareness of individuals and organizations
that are working to further the mission of USAID in the United States
and abroad. Recipients of this award are recognized for achievements that
have contributed to the realization of USAID’s mission to provide
economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world.
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