The New York Public Library (NYPL) dedicated its newly renovated Center for Research in the Humanities to Vartan Gregorian during a ceremony at its flagship building in Midtown Manhattan on November 15. Gregorian is credited with restoring and revitalizing the library while he served as president from 1981 to 1989, helping it become one of the nation’s preeminent civic and educational institutions. He was later president of Brown University and then president of Carnegie Corporation of New York for 24 years until his death in 2021.
“If you knew Vartan, you know that he loved libraries, as Andrew Carnegie did before him. Vartan referred to them as an oasis for renewal of one’s imagination and the development of one’s mind — a necessity for every community,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “We are delighted to honor his legacy as one of the NYPL’s great champions by supporting the Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute than a space for scholars to allow their imaginations to take flight amidst the extraordinary resources of this great library.”
Under Gregorian’s leadership, the library recovered from a decade of financial insecurity. Gregorian forged strong relationships within city government and in the philanthropic sector, resulting in the significant growth of the library’s endowment, the renovation of many of its historic locations, the restoration of hours of service across branches, the expansion of multilingual and multicultural materials, an increase in its education and literacy programs, and investments in curators and expert staff in its research libraries, among many other accomplishments.
With a $5 million foundational grant from the Corporation, the new Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities honors Gregorian’s dedication to scholarship and learning as well as his impact on the library and its patrons. The 8,000-square-foot space, which is housed in the library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, provides a research center for up to 400 researchers, including 40 scholars on paid fellowships. The Center will serve as a hub for the humanities at the library with accompanying public programming and research-focused classes and workshops.
Learn more about Vartan Gregorian’s life and legacy.
Read the New York Public Library’s press release.