Ara Tekian

Ara Tekian is professor and director of International Affairs for the Department of Medical Education, and the Associate Dean for the Office of International Education at the College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago.^[1][2] His professional and research interests include curriculum development, educational assessment and innovative testing methodologies, competency-based learning, and medical simulation. Tekian has consulted with curriculum development efforts in over 45 countries.^[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Tekian received a BS degree in Biology and Chemistry in 1975, followed by a MS degree in Neuroanatomy in 1979 and PhD in Neuroscience in 1981 from the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon. After completing a four month fellowship at the Center for Educational Development at the University of Illinois Medical Center in 1981, he enrolled in the Master’s program and received a Master’s in Health Professions Education (MHPE) from the University of Illinois in 1983.

Career[edit]

Tekian has served as the President of the Division of Education in the Professions for American Educational Research Association from 2009 to 2012. He is the Chief Editor for the Springer Publishing book series on Innovation and Change in Professional Education.^[4] Tekian serves as principal investigator on an American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology sponsored grant to build a practice-based network of educators improving psychiatry education through the formation of the Psychiatry Educational Assessment, Research, and Learning Consortium. Tekian is also chair of the International Editorial Board of the journal Medical Education.^[5]

Community service[edit]

Outside his professional responsibilities at UIC, Tekian has held numerous leadership roles in the Armenian and Lebanese communities in Chicago. He has been an active member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Chicago Chapter for the past two decades, serving as the Chair of its Saturday S. Varjabedian Armenian School from 1994 – 2005, and the Chair of the Cultural and Educational programs. Tekian was also instrumental in the establishment of the Masters in Public Health Program at the American University of Armenia (AUA) in 1995, and since then voluntarily teaches a two-week course every other year.^[6] He is one of the 100 Pillars of AUA supporting the scholarship fund.^[7] Being an alumnus of the American University of Beirut, he was the President of the Midwest Chapter of the Alumni Association of North America from 1997 to 2001, and the President of the Alumni Association of North America from 2002 to 2004.^[8] He has organized several highly successful fund-raising events for both AUA and AUB, as well as for other humanitarian organizations.^[9] Tekian has been the contact person in Chicago for both the Armenian and Lebanese young doctors since 1992 and has assisted a large number of them by securing postgraduate training positions in the US. Tekian has dedicated his life to mentoring, promoting, and helping the younger generation both socially and professionally, as well as contributing to many humanitarian causes.^[10]

Honors and awards[edit]

• Received an honorary doctorate from the Tashkent University in Uzbekistan (1996)
• American Educational Research Association Division I’s Distinguished Career Award (2017)^[11]
• Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2017)^[12]
• UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching (2018)^[13]
• In 2021 he was inducted as an affiliate member of the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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