FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
June 29, 2005 
Contact: Shirley Melikian Armbruster
(559) 278-5292 or (559) 593-1815 

Presidential medal for His Holiness Karekin II

Dr. John D. Welty, right, president of California State University, Fresno, presented the President’s Medal of Distinction to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, during a campus visit on June 14. Assisting Dr. Welty was Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Fresno State lecturer in Armenian Studies. The President’s Medal is the highest non-degree award presented by Fresno State.

His Holiness Karekin II, considered to be pope of the Armenian faithful, visited Fresno and the Central Valley from June 11-15 to lead a “Renaissance of Faith.” He presented Dr. Welty with an engraved silver tray.  

The meeting was the second in a year for the two men. Last summer, Dr. Welty visited His Holiness Karekin II while traveling in Armenia.

###