Dr. Honora Chapman, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, announced that Dr. Sergio La Porta has accepted the associate dean position effective January 2022.

“His sincere respect and concern for everyone in our college is truly inspiring, and I think we are very fortunate to have such a wonderful colleague serving as our associate dean. Please join me in congratulating and thanking Sergio!” Dean Chapman said in an email to college faculty and staff.

La Porta has been in his current role of interim associate dean since 2019 and the Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies since 2009. La Porta is the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies editor and serves on the editorial boards of several book series. Since 2010, he has lectured on the Armenian Genocide in the Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series at Sonoma State University. From 2013-15, La Porta served as President of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Fresno. In 2018, he cofounded the Fresno Institute for Classical Armenian Translation that teaches Classical Armenian language to students worldwide.

LaPorta received his Ph.D. in Armenian and near eastern studies from Harvard University in 2001. Before coming to Fresno, he taught Armenian and Religious Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests include medieval Armenian intellectual and social history, philology and apocalyptic literature.