there is a lot of very
print legacies the legacy of hiring
Bentley for example he started a vision
of creating an accountancy school that
is now one of the premier business
universities in the world on the other
hand we have a golf Hitler who has left
us a legacy of human suffering of
unprecedented scale with tens of
millions of deaths and of genocide and
Adolf Hitler’s genocide to the Jewish
people was not the first of the previous
century but rather the second after the
systematic extermination of the Armenian
people by the Ottoman Turks and Shitler
used this as an excuse when just before
invading Poland he famously said after
all who remembers now of the initiation
of the Armenians thankfully Armenians
not only survived but thrived and we are
very proud because
it is amazing to see that the Ottoman
Turks really killed 1.5 million of us
out of two million of total population
we have really made a difference in this
world and Armenians have excelled arts
in sciences in sports and in academia
let me show you my first favorite
Armenian we are sitting in a building
that bears his name Greg a Damian has
been the president of Bentley for 21
years
and during his tenure he did some
amazing things first of all enrollment
doubled
she created 27 new buildings at a cost
of 70 million dollars and the endowment
grew from 400,000 to 60 million all that
in a space of 21 years so he really
changed the course of this university
who knows this guy exactly dr. death
that’s what the media called him for
many years
his name is dr. Jack Kevorkian and he
took it upon himself to assist with
patients with terminal illness – with
assisted suicide and he performed 130
such attempts he spent many years in
prison and his tombstone now writes he
sacrificed his life for the rights of
everyone and that is powerful that is a
legacy and then we have this guy that
you probably don’t know anybody knows
this guy dr. damadian is the inventor of
the MRI
and then we have zip bagging who has
spent three hundred and thirty four
hours in space and again andre agassi
one of the top tennis players of all
time is half Armenian and so is this
diva
everybody knows Kim Kardashian but cher
sarkeesian is also half Armenian and
she’s very very proud of it I would be
impressed if you know this guy yes
Charles Aznavour
he is called the Frank Sinatra of France
as you may realize are all of us
Armenians in order to escape the
genocide we had to move to different
countries like my family moved to Greece
and as an aversive Amalie moved to
France and he thrived there by writing
1,300 songs that were sung in eight
languages and he sold a hundred and
eighty million records he’s one of the
biggest manufacturers of Armenia but the
largest by far is this guy mr. Kirk
Kerkorian
given Armenia over 1 billion dollars
through his Lindsay foundation for
much-needed infrastructure projects in
Armenia Kirk made his fortune by
building mega resorts in Las Vegas and
although she also bought the MGM Studios
for many years he was trying to create a
film about the Armenian Genocide but he
couldn’t because the Turkish Lobby is so
strong it still resists the word
genocide and anything that brings the
subject of genocide to the public
but I’m happy to say that I’m sure some
of you have noticed already that two
days ago the movie the promise premiered
in movie theaters all around the US and
hopefully soon it’s going to go to the
rest of the world and it is a movie that
he helped finance so it is powerful it
is the genocide it’s something that’s of
a stigma to us Armenians and this my
last example of an Armenian leaving a
legacy she’s an amazing lady that
decided at 82 years old to write a book
to write a book about her how her family
managed to escape and survive and thrive
after the genocide and it’s difficult to
write a book at 82 especially if you’re
not a writer it took her two years two
years of passion two years of
determination to write this book and
this is her family for generations in
one picture and I’ll give you a hint on
the top right you can see me because yes
Audrina Palin Gian is my grandmother and
I’m very proud because she has really
influenced my life and this is her
presenting her book to the public again
at 84 years of age she was very
passionate a very loving woman not only
giving to her family that was very
important to her but also giving to
community and she has influenced me in
many ways
one way she influenced me is balance
and I feel that we need to live our
lives with balance and these are no new
ideas ancient Greek philosophers have
been saying these things for 2,500 years
but these ideas are so relevant today
their legacy lives on so here I am with
Aristotle on his Square in Thessaloniki
which is in the north part of Greece and
it’s a summary of balancing the seven
pillars of light course it is career
financial independence within a business
school after all but it’s also family in
health and friends and peak experiences
and civic responsibilities and giving
back and also spiritual development and
balancing these things is not easy but
it is something or of challenge and if
you go close to it you know be closer to
living a fulfilling life so my very
recent experience has been picture this
this exercise
Greece is in its eighth year of severe
depression it has lost 27 percent of its
GDP that actually worse than the Great
Depression here in the US and it hasn’t
recovered for 8 years unemployment for
Greeks is at 26 percent unemployment for
the youth for people under 35 is close
to 65 percent so you can imagine there’s
no
building activity and it I was called to
help a group of companies involved in
building materials and on top of that
the cherry on the cake is that there is
a family feud
so it’s a very difficult exercise but
more than restructuring financials
changing the business plan changing the
strategy of the organization you realize
that your actions change people’s lives
because through our collective actions
we managed to secure jobs and create new
jobs for younger Greeks and that is
powerful so now so career is not only
about money it’s about changing people’s
lives and Families super important you
need to be investing time to your
marriage because it’s like a garden we
needs a bit of watering every day and so
Santorini to the rescue in this case and
health is very important and I found my
health bill which is sports and I also
call it my midlife crisis it is water
skiing in particular keeps me physically
strong but also mentally strong because
it’s a very technical sport friends and
if you ask certain areas around the
world they’re going to all agree that’s
sharing these experiences sharing your
life with friends make it all worthwhile
and so do these peak experiences and for
me that’s important I guess I’m an
adrenaline junkie but most of all what
really makes my day is giving back I’m
the very proud member of the Bentley
global Alumni Board where we try to
serve the school by forging alumni
relationships around the world
because let’s not forget Bentley is a
very international school now and I’m
very very happy to be associated and I
get so much energy from the other
directors of the G a B and I really
really feel privileged in helping shape
school go to the next century but I’ve
been involved in organizing other
volunteer efforts and again let me
remind you Greece is in crisis we need
to help Greece and we decide to create
an innovative grassroots campaign with
no help from the government and no help
from large corporates to promote Greece
in the center of the world this is Times
Square with a billboard an animated
billboard to promote tourists to visit
Greece and this was so powerful so
powerful that CNN and BBC took notice
because of this media coverage that of
course none of us paid and repeated
itself when we run the campaign in
London media experts estimated that the
initial amount was multiplied 50 times
so the media coverage Greece God because
volunteer efforts really make a much
much larger impact I’m trying to instill
this to the new generation this is my
son some years earlier helping me
reforest a burnt Hill near Athens and I
tried to say to him that it doesn’t
matter who burned the forest whose
mistake it was if it was intentional or
not it’s our duty and responsibility to
help bring it back to life and I also do
my best to remind my kids that there
should be proud of their ancestors
proud of their heritage because at the
end of the day this will give him even
more strength this was the first
question that popped into my head when I
was asked to talk about legacy what will
my kids remember about me when I’m gone
and I want you to consider the same
question for you how will your kids
remember you when you’re gone because
our actions every single day and Natalie
mentioned that will while ago define our
legacy and it’s every single day and
it’s a trivial stuff the small stuff and
for me other than the time that I spent
with my kids the quality time or the not
so quality time the time that I spend
with my kids and everything that I try
to instill in them is what they’re going
to remember but they also I also want
them to remember balance I want this to
be something that they remember that
they should be balancing their lives and
a lot of people will argue that it’s
it’s difficult it’s like an elephant
trying to do acrobatics on a ball but my
answer to that is balance is not
something that you find it’s something
that you create thank you very much
[Applause]
print legacies the legacy of hiring
Bentley for example he started a vision
of creating an accountancy school that
is now one of the premier business
universities in the world on the other
hand we have a golf Hitler who has left
us a legacy of human suffering of
unprecedented scale with tens of
millions of deaths and of genocide and
Adolf Hitler’s genocide to the Jewish
people was not the first of the previous
century but rather the second after the
systematic extermination of the Armenian
people by the Ottoman Turks and Shitler
used this as an excuse when just before
invading Poland he famously said after
all who remembers now of the initiation
of the Armenians thankfully Armenians
not only survived but thrived and we are
very proud because
it is amazing to see that the Ottoman
Turks really killed 1.5 million of us
out of two million of total population
we have really made a difference in this
world and Armenians have excelled arts
in sciences in sports and in academia
let me show you my first favorite
Armenian we are sitting in a building
that bears his name Greg a Damian has
been the president of Bentley for 21
years
and during his tenure he did some
amazing things first of all enrollment
doubled
she created 27 new buildings at a cost
of 70 million dollars and the endowment
grew from 400,000 to 60 million all that
in a space of 21 years so he really
changed the course of this university
who knows this guy exactly dr. death
that’s what the media called him for
many years
his name is dr. Jack Kevorkian and he
took it upon himself to assist with
patients with terminal illness – with
assisted suicide and he performed 130
such attempts he spent many years in
prison and his tombstone now writes he
sacrificed his life for the rights of
everyone and that is powerful that is a
legacy and then we have this guy that
you probably don’t know anybody knows
this guy dr. damadian is the inventor of
the MRI
and then we have zip bagging who has
spent three hundred and thirty four
hours in space and again andre agassi
one of the top tennis players of all
time is half Armenian and so is this
diva
everybody knows Kim Kardashian but cher
sarkeesian is also half Armenian and
she’s very very proud of it I would be
impressed if you know this guy yes
Charles Aznavour
he is called the Frank Sinatra of France
as you may realize are all of us
Armenians in order to escape the
genocide we had to move to different
countries like my family moved to Greece
and as an aversive Amalie moved to
France and he thrived there by writing
1,300 songs that were sung in eight
languages and he sold a hundred and
eighty million records he’s one of the
biggest manufacturers of Armenia but the
largest by far is this guy mr. Kirk
Kerkorian
given Armenia over 1 billion dollars
through his Lindsay foundation for
much-needed infrastructure projects in
Armenia Kirk made his fortune by
building mega resorts in Las Vegas and
although she also bought the MGM Studios
for many years he was trying to create a
film about the Armenian Genocide but he
couldn’t because the Turkish Lobby is so
strong it still resists the word
genocide and anything that brings the
subject of genocide to the public
but I’m happy to say that I’m sure some
of you have noticed already that two
days ago the movie the promise premiered
in movie theaters all around the US and
hopefully soon it’s going to go to the
rest of the world and it is a movie that
he helped finance so it is powerful it
is the genocide it’s something that’s of
a stigma to us Armenians and this my
last example of an Armenian leaving a
legacy she’s an amazing lady that
decided at 82 years old to write a book
to write a book about her how her family
managed to escape and survive and thrive
after the genocide and it’s difficult to
write a book at 82 especially if you’re
not a writer it took her two years two
years of passion two years of
determination to write this book and
this is her family for generations in
one picture and I’ll give you a hint on
the top right you can see me because yes
Audrina Palin Gian is my grandmother and
I’m very proud because she has really
influenced my life and this is her
presenting her book to the public again
at 84 years of age she was very
passionate a very loving woman not only
giving to her family that was very
important to her but also giving to
community and she has influenced me in
many ways
one way she influenced me is balance
and I feel that we need to live our
lives with balance and these are no new
ideas ancient Greek philosophers have
been saying these things for 2,500 years
but these ideas are so relevant today
their legacy lives on so here I am with
Aristotle on his Square in Thessaloniki
which is in the north part of Greece and
it’s a summary of balancing the seven
pillars of light course it is career
financial independence within a business
school after all but it’s also family in
health and friends and peak experiences
and civic responsibilities and giving
back and also spiritual development and
balancing these things is not easy but
it is something or of challenge and if
you go close to it you know be closer to
living a fulfilling life so my very
recent experience has been picture this
this exercise
Greece is in its eighth year of severe
depression it has lost 27 percent of its
GDP that actually worse than the Great
Depression here in the US and it hasn’t
recovered for 8 years unemployment for
Greeks is at 26 percent unemployment for
the youth for people under 35 is close
to 65 percent so you can imagine there’s
no
building activity and it I was called to
help a group of companies involved in
building materials and on top of that
the cherry on the cake is that there is
a family feud
so it’s a very difficult exercise but
more than restructuring financials
changing the business plan changing the
strategy of the organization you realize
that your actions change people’s lives
because through our collective actions
we managed to secure jobs and create new
jobs for younger Greeks and that is
powerful so now so career is not only
about money it’s about changing people’s
lives and Families super important you
need to be investing time to your
marriage because it’s like a garden we
needs a bit of watering every day and so
Santorini to the rescue in this case and
health is very important and I found my
health bill which is sports and I also
call it my midlife crisis it is water
skiing in particular keeps me physically
strong but also mentally strong because
it’s a very technical sport friends and
if you ask certain areas around the
world they’re going to all agree that’s
sharing these experiences sharing your
life with friends make it all worthwhile
and so do these peak experiences and for
me that’s important I guess I’m an
adrenaline junkie but most of all what
really makes my day is giving back I’m
the very proud member of the Bentley
global Alumni Board where we try to
serve the school by forging alumni
relationships around the world
because let’s not forget Bentley is a
very international school now and I’m
very very happy to be associated and I
get so much energy from the other
directors of the G a B and I really
really feel privileged in helping shape
school go to the next century but I’ve
been involved in organizing other
volunteer efforts and again let me
remind you Greece is in crisis we need
to help Greece and we decide to create
an innovative grassroots campaign with
no help from the government and no help
from large corporates to promote Greece
in the center of the world this is Times
Square with a billboard an animated
billboard to promote tourists to visit
Greece and this was so powerful so
powerful that CNN and BBC took notice
because of this media coverage that of
course none of us paid and repeated
itself when we run the campaign in
London media experts estimated that the
initial amount was multiplied 50 times
so the media coverage Greece God because
volunteer efforts really make a much
much larger impact I’m trying to instill
this to the new generation this is my
son some years earlier helping me
reforest a burnt Hill near Athens and I
tried to say to him that it doesn’t
matter who burned the forest whose
mistake it was if it was intentional or
not it’s our duty and responsibility to
help bring it back to life and I also do
my best to remind my kids that there
should be proud of their ancestors
proud of their heritage because at the
end of the day this will give him even
more strength this was the first
question that popped into my head when I
was asked to talk about legacy what will
my kids remember about me when I’m gone
and I want you to consider the same
question for you how will your kids
remember you when you’re gone because
our actions every single day and Natalie
mentioned that will while ago define our
legacy and it’s every single day and
it’s a trivial stuff the small stuff and
for me other than the time that I spent
with my kids the quality time or the not
so quality time the time that I spend
with my kids and everything that I try
to instill in them is what they’re going
to remember but they also I also want
them to remember balance I want this to
be something that they remember that
they should be balancing their lives and
a lot of people will argue that it’s
it’s difficult it’s like an elephant
trying to do acrobatics on a ball but my
answer to that is balance is not
something that you find it’s something
that you create thank you very much
[Applause]
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