its president David P. Gardner appointed a task force led by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs William R. Frazer to evaluate the possibility of an affiliation between AUA and UC. After the task force's visit to Armenia in July 1990, the Regents of the University of California voted unanimously in favor of an affiliation, through which UC provides technical support and experience for the growth of AUA and collaborates with AUA in preparing its faculty.
=== First years ===
The university was formally established on September 21, 1991, the day Armenia held an independence referendum, and opened two days later. AUA began instruction with 101 students, who were enrolled in an intensive English-language program and later allocated into three graduate degree programs. In 1993, AUA's first commencement took place when 38 people graduated with master's degrees in Business and Management, Industrial Engineering, and Earthquake Engineering. The AUA Extension, a program offering short courses and training programs, …
