Two Gifts Augment Scholarship at USC Law

Amerian scholarship awarded annually to outstanding student

—By Gilien Silsby

The USC Gould School of Law has received two generous gifts for the Justice Richard Amerian Memorial Scholarship.

Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Michael Amerian ’99 made a gift of $10,000 to the scholarship fund, while attorney Vartkes Yeghiayan presented a gift of $18,000 from the New York Life Settlement Fund. The gifts will enable the school to bolster the level of financial support it awards to an outstanding student each year, said USC Law Dean Robert K. Rasmussen.

Walter Karabian '63, Vartkes Yeghiayan, Dean  Robert Rasmussen, Michael Amerian '99

“We are grateful for these generous gifts. Scholarships such as these enable us to ensure that some of our most deserving students receive a first-rate legal education,” Rasmussen said.

Amerian and Yeghiayan presented their checks for the Amerian Scholarship to Rasmussen in January at a lunch held in the school’s Karns & Karabian Faculty Dining Room.

Last year’s recipient of the Amerian Scholarship was Sara Karubian ’09; this year’s Amerian Scholar is Jon Khoshafian ’10.

After graduating from USC Law in 1999, Michael Amerian clerked for Judge Dickran Tevrizian '65 in the Central District of California.

Justice Richard Amerian is a 1962 graduate of USC Law.