The Reverend Vahac Mardirosian - Founder

Born in Alepo, Syria to Armenian parents, Vahac Mardirosian immigrated with his family to Mexico when he was only two years old. Raised in Mexico City and then Tijuana, he moved to California at the age of nineteen to attend a Baptist seminary. After being ordained in 1946, he married Eunice and left California to become a minister for Mexican American communities in Topeka and Chicago. In 1952, Rev. Mardirosian returned to California where he continued his pastoral duties and actively worked for civil rights through educational reform.

On the morning of March 1, 1968, an event catapulted Rev. Mardirosian to the forefront of the civil rights struggle in East Los Angeles. While at a breakfast meeting with other ministers, he heard the news that students from Garfield High School had left their classes in protest and were milling about in the streets. Fearing for their safety, he drove to the school and sought out the student leaders. After only three hours, he gained their confidence, allowing him to mediate with the school administrators. Soon after this event, Rev. Mardirosian was made chairman of the Educational Issues Coordinating Committee (EICC). The purpose of the EICC was to advocate for the students and parents and articulate their concerns to the school board.

This was only the beginning of Rev. Mardirosian’s efforts to attain educational reform. He became the founder and executive director of the Hispanic Urban Center in Los Angeles, a project that provided teachers with training about the culture and heritage of Mexican Americans. Through the auspices of the American Baptist Churches, Rev. Mardirosian founded the ABC Project Head Start Program to benefit preschool aged children by providing a structured educational foundation.

In 1987 a group of parents from Sherman Elementary, an underperforming and predominantly Latino school in San Diego, approached Rev. Mardirosian with concerns about their children’s education. Dr. Alberto Ochoa joined him in listening to parents identify the major issues affecting their young students. After several meetings, Rev. Mardirosian and Dr. Ochoa decided to take these discussions to other schools and districts. As a result, they founded the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) and created a nine-week program based on their original meetings with the San Diego parents. The program has evolved over the years and has been translated into sixteen different languages. PIQE has expanded to include ten offices in California and others in Arizona and Texas. Rev. Mardirosian’s desire to help one group of parents has grown into an organization that has touched the lives of over 500,000 parents and their children.

In May of 1998, California State University awarded Rev. Mardirosian an honorary doctorate degree in recognition of the significant contributions he made to the children of California. His dedication and tireless work have paved the way to educational reform and expanded opportunities for success for countless students.