Mrs. Dolores Zohrab Liebmann was the daughter of the early twentieth-century Armenian intellectual, writer, and statesman Krikor Zohrab. During her lifetime, Mrs. Liebmann supported educational and charitable organizations, with a primary concern to attract and support students with outstanding character and ability, who would hold promise for achievement and distinction in their chosen fields of study.

Through a generous bequest at her death, Mrs. Liebmann created a perpetual charitable trust designated as The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund for the purpose of funding advanced education and graduate study grants, which must be carried out entirely in the United States of America.

The Eastern Diocese is among the select institutions eligible to nominate one candidate per year for the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Graduate Fellowship. Fellowships are renewable for three years and cover the cost of tuition and provide a stipend for living expenses.

We are pleased to announce that Diocesan nominee Dn. Hovannes Khosdeghian, Director of Armenian Language Ministry at the Diocese and Instructor of Canon Law and Armenian Public Speaking at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, who is concurrently pursuing a Doctorate in Theology degree at Agora University (expected 2028), has been awarded the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowship for academic year 2026–2027.

Hovannes Khosdeghian studied philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University, specializing in Pedagogy, (Bachelor in Philosophy, 1976), and theology at St. Thomas Aquinas University (Bachelor in Theology, 1980), both in Rome, Italy. His graduate work was in Biblical studies and Systematic Theology.

Between 1980 and 1983, he served as editor of Hye Endanik, a magazine published by the Mekhitarist Fathers of Venice. During the same period he was Assistant Rector and Academic Dean of the Seminary of St. Lazarus, where he also taught Classical Armenian, Classical Greek, History of Philosophy and History of Religion. Concurrently he was Secretary of the Academia Armena Sancti Lazari. In 1982, he became Assistant Superior of the Novitiate of the Order until December 1983, when he left the Order and settled in the United States.

He was Assistant Pastor in St. Mark’s Armenian Catholic Church in Wynnewood, PA, until the appointment of Rev. Msgr. Sarkis Gabadian. Later, as Assistant Pastor at St. Ann’s Armenian Catholic Cathedral he served as Editor of The Eternal Flame, the periodical of the Armenian Catholic Exarchate.

Between 1988 and 1992, he taught Classical Armenian language and Canon Law at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and was a Research Fellow at the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese.

In 2024, he was hired to be Director of Armenian Language Ministry at the Eastern Diocese. Dn. Hovannes oversees Armenian language education across the Diocese, working with parish Armenian Schools, teachers, and clergy to strengthen Armenian language instruction. He also translates important Church materials into Western and Eastern Armenian, ensuring that language remains a vital part of our faith and heritage. He also serves as the principal of the St. Vartan Cathedral Sunday School.

In 2024, he was also invited back to St. Nersess Armenian Seminary to teach courses in Armenian Canon Law and Armenian Public Speaking. There, during conversations with faculty at the seminary, he was advised to pursue a doctorate in Theology, so that the classes he teaches could be accredited at the university level. Prompted by this encouragement and his own reflection and motivation, it became clear to that this was the right time to pursue an advanced degree in theology, which life events thus far had precluded him from completing. 

Pursuing his doctorate in theology at Agora University will provide him a robust academic structure in which to grow intellectually and develop his professional research skills in areas such as hermeneutical paths to the understanding of church, sign and seal of salvation, ecclesiology, and Armenian Patristic thought. 

Dn. Hovannes said, “I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Trustees of the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund. It is a great honor to receive this Fellowship, which will make a significant difference in supporting my advancement toward my doctoral degree in Theology, as I balance my responsibilities in graduate school with my current positions at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. It is especially meaningful to me because I knew Mrs. Liebmann personally in the final years of her life through my involvement with the newly established Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, which she founded in honor of her parents. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Dr. Jesse Arlen for your guidance and support in the application process.”

Dn. Hovannes dedicates his free time to community service and three projects: a historical atlas of the Armenian Highlands, an English-Armenian dictionary, and developing a farm in Zoravan, Armenia. He is married to Arpi Lajinian and they have two children, Talar and Kegham.

We congratulate Dn. Hovannes on this award!

Applications for the next cycle of funding will be announced in the Fall.