Armen A. Avanessians, SEAS ’83 and a recently named University trustee, will be the Class Day speaker for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the school announced Monday.

“Mr. Avanessians is the perfect example of how engineering has become a ‘liberal arts’ education for the 21st century,” Gerald Navratil, interim dean of SEAS, said in a press release. “His background and accomplishments highlight how education in traditional engineering disciplines allows flexibility to develop diverse career paths.”

Avanessians—now a high-level director at investment banking giant Goldman Sachs—studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia before taking up research at Bell Laboratories.

“He’s a good example of taking an engineering degree and using it elsewhere, which is becoming more and more common with graduates,” Engineering Student Council president Liz Strauss, SEAS ’08, said.

Avanessians has remained involved with SEAS beyond graduation by chairing its Board of Visitors and the Columbia Campaign for Engineering, and by supporting several awards, including the Alexander and Hermine Avanessians Professorship in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and the Janette and Armen Avanessians Diversity Award.

“I’ve had a good experience with him,” Strauss said. “He does an incredible amount for the school.”

Strauss said that while the administration picks the Class Day speaker, a committee of SEAS seniors compiled a list of recommendations, which included Avanessians. ESC senior class President Eash Cumarasamy said that as far as he knew, student involvement in this year’s process was the highest it has ever been.

“He wants to give a good speech that he hopes will resonate with the class,” Cumarasamy said. “I’m excited to hear what Mr. Avanessians has to say.”

lien.hoang@columbiaspectator.com