YEREVAN — After nearly 16 years of service on the American University of Armenia (AUA) Board of Trustees, including 13 as chair, Dr. Lawrence H. Pitts has officially retired from the chairmanship. While he continues to serve as a member of the Board, Dr. Pitts will be succeeded as chair by Zaven Paul Akian, long-time AUA benefactor, for whom the University’s Zaven P. and Sonia Akian College of Science and Engineering is named.
Dr. Pitts assumed the chairmanship of the University’s Board of Trustees in 2012, shortly after retiring from his position as provost and executive vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of California (UC) and three years after joining the Board. Prior to becoming UC provost, Dr. Pitts served as a professor of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.
Dr. Pitts spent 17 years as chief of neurosurgery at the San Francisco General Hospital, where he conducted and published numerous studies related to neurotrauma and was appointed chairman of the Joint Section on Neurotrauma of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Pitts was elected into the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and subsequently as chairman of the American Brain Injury Consortium, an organization of 50 neurotrauma centers in the United States, Canada, and Israel. He also served on the Medical Advisory Board of the Acoustic Neuroma Association and participated in lectures of both practical courses in acoustic neuroma and skull base surgery at national and international meetings.
He was introduced to AUA during his tenure as UC provost, in light of AUA’s close affiliation with UC since its establishment in 1991. Under this affiliation agreement, UC has provided academic and administrative guidance to AUA, with several current or former UC administrators and academic leaders serving on AUA’s Board of Trustees. This inspired Dr. Pitts to become a trustee, until his eventual appointment to the chairman position.
The role of Board chair, previously occupied by the sitting or former provost of UC, will now be assumed by Akian, who brings with him new perspectives shaped by his professional and philanthropic experience.Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Akian earned a baccalaureate degree from the International College of the American University of Beirut before emigrating to the United States in 1960 to study at NYU’s School of Engineering. He later transferred to Adelphi University, where he majored in mathematics and physics and played in the 1963 NCAA soccer semifinals. After graduating in 1964, he pursued graduate studies in applied mathematics and business at UCLA while serving six years in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Akian built a successful career in technology-based ventures, partnering with U.S. Armed Forces agencies, NASA, and aerospace companies. He led Western Filter and Puroflow Corporations — both aerospace filtration manufacturers — for over 25 years before selling them in 2008. He currently chairs Integra Technologies, a semiconductor company he has funded since 1998, with research centers in California, Arizona, and Armenia. Integra leads in high-power RF solutions for avionics, air traffic control, and defense. In 1999, he also acquired FluiDyne Fluid Power in Michigan and remains active in real estate through Akian Capital, LLC.
Akian served six years on Adelphi University’s Board of Trustees and currently sits on the boards of Golden State Bank and the Western Diocese Armenian Church Endowment Fund. His contributions to Armenia and the Diaspora have earned him honors including the Medal of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the Medal of Gratitude from the President of Armenia, and the ARPA Institute’s Eternal Flame Award. In 2016, AUA named its College of Science and Engineering after Zaven and his late wife, Sonia, in recognition of their significant endowment and support.
