Kazanjian Foundation Scholarships Offer Opportunity of a Lifetime

By Tara J. McKenna

The future just got a little brighter for John Hess. The 24-year-old father of two who works in a factory as a furniture assembler has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship for GIA’s On Campus Graduate Jeweler diploma program.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s always been something I wanted to do and I’m so grateful,” Hess said. “[The Kazanjian Foundation] gave me $10,000 to go to school and they barely know me. I feel like I’ve been really blessed and I won’t be satisfied until I can shake Mike Kazanjian’s hand and say ‘thank you’ for the opportunity of a lifetime he’s laid down in front of me.”

The scholarship is part of the Kazanjian Foundation’s recent $100,000 donation to GIA designed to provide financially needy students with the opportunity to study at the Institute. It was one of two Kazanjian Scholarships awarded in January.

The second went to 26-year-old Regina Hardman, whose love of jewelry began on a trip to a local museum 20 years ago. Today she designs her own beaded jewelry for Queenie’s Originals, a company she started in high school. She wants to learn how to work with metals, however, and there is no better teacher than GIA, she said.

“A GIA diploma is one of the most important credentials someone can have on their resume,” said Douglas Kazanjian, director of the Kazanjian Foundation. “We want to give those who otherwise would have no chance of attending GIA the opportunity to further their education. It’s one of the core values my grandfather believed in, and which my father and myself continue to believe in.”

Douglas Kazanjian’s grandfather James Kazanjian, and his brother Harry, immigrated to America when they were very young and founded Kazanjian Bros. in 1918 and the Kazanjian Foundation in 1957. They were determined to provide educational opportunities to those who couldn’t afford it, Douglas Kazanjian said.

Both Hess and Hardman plan to start out on the bench after completing the Graduate Jeweler diploma program. Hess hopes to someday travel the globe selling diamonds for an established company, and Hardman wants to own a business to sell her original designs in gold and platinum.

“I am a realistic dreamer who believes my dreams can and will become a reality if they are coupled with industry-specific knowledge,” she said. “GIA is a creative force that will empower me by providing me with tools to compete in today’s changing and ever-growing fine jewelry industry.”

To learn how to establish a GIA scholarship fund, contact Director of Institute Relations Jane Lynch at (760) 603-4114 or e-mail: jane.lynch@gia.edu.