Professor Lucy Der Manuelian holds the Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Chair of Armenian Art and Architectural History in the Department of Art History at Tufts University This chair is the first endowed professorship in this field ever established at a university, and Der Manuelian is the first appointee.

She has been a member of the Tufts faculty since l984 when she was appointed to the Lectureship in Armenian Art and Architecture, the first teaching position in the United States dedicated to this field. The Lectureship was established by Tufts in conjunction with Harvard, McGill University, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts-Boston so courses in Armenian art would be taught at each university in succession. Professor Der Manuelian held the Lectureship post from l984 to l989 when she was appointed to the newly-established Dadian/Oztemel Professorship.

She received her B.A. degree from Radcliffe College, and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in art history from Boston University. She was a Fellow at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College for two years. Hers was the first Ph.D. dissertation in the United States in the field of Armenian art.

Professor Der Manuelian spent seven months in the former Soviet Union doing fieldwork and research in Armenia, followed by a three-month expedition under fellowships awarded her by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Since then, she has returned many times to Armenia during the Cold War and after to do her research. She has photographed, studied and written about hundreds of medieval monasteries in mountainous regions all over the country. She is the first American to carry out such a project.

She authored three volumes and co-authored the fourth one on Armenian Architecture published by the Armenian Architectural Archives Project. Her publications also include Weavers, Merchants and Kings: The Inscribed Rugs of Armenia, the major articles on Armenian art for the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and the Dictionary of Art; and papers on medieval Armenian sculpture. She organized and wrote the catalogue for the University of Michigan exhibit entitled The Gregorian Collection. She co-authored the catalogue, and was consultant and lecturer for the Kimbell Art Museum's exhibit entitled Weavers, Merchants and Kings: The Inscribed Rugs of Armenia which travelled to five museums in the U.S. She has been the subject of many newspaper, radio and television interviews, has introduced Armenian history and art to millions of people here and in other countries, including l42 million listeners to Voice of America broadcasts. She has also appeared on the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour and other television programs.

Der Manuelian wrote, narrated and produced a television film shown at several museums with the exhibit Weavers Merchants and Kings: The Inscribed Rugs of Armenia and shown on television in New York, Montreal, Los Angeles, Toronto and Boston; also written and narrated two documentaries on Armenian art for Montreal's cable television. Her most recent documentary Lost Treasures of Christianity: The Ancient Monuments of Armenia shot in Armenia was broadcast by 58 PBS stations in major cities in the U.S. including New York, Boston, Detroit Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago, and many times by NJN Public Television's network stations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The film is being distributed internationally by American Public Television. The first public showing of the film was at the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts presented it in its film program series and the British Library showed it in its ³Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art² exhibit.

In addition to her university teaching, she has logged more than 900,000 miles to give over 1,000 public lectures in eleven countries at many universities, museums, Tufts, Harvard and Radcliffe alumni clubs, the World Affairs Council, community and church groups, the Courtauld Institute in London, the Smithsonian Institution, and twice at the American Embassy in Moscow in successive years. She has lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Pierpont Morgan Library, Walters Art Gallery, Detroit Institute of Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Kimbell Art Museum, and Worcester Art Museum, and other museums.

In l986, Boston University named her to the Academy of Distinguished Alumni. In l987, the distinguished Accademia Tiberina of Rome, founded in l813, elected her to the Academy for her work in Armenian art and architecture.

Her lecture at the Library of Congress was the inaugural one in an annual series on Armenian studies. She has also lectured at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the World Affairs Council in Boston, and at the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Walters Art Gallery for their exhibit "Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts² and also asked to lecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its exhibit ³The Glory of Byzantium,² and by the Detroit Institute of Arts on its ³Empire of the Sultans² exhibit.

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research gave her the Kolligian Award for "meritorious service in Armenian studies," and the Armenian Students' Association presented her with the Boyan Award in l986 for distinction in the humanities. In l990, she was named "Armenian of the Year" by the Armenian Masonic Team and the Armenian community in Rhode Island. In 2000, the Armenian Rugs Society honored her with the Kohar Award. She is also listed in Who's Who in the East, in Who's Who in Education, the World Who's Who of Women, Who's Who of American Women and the Dictionary of International Biography.

In l994, she received the "Woman of Achievement." award at the First International Conference of the Armenian International Women's Association in London.

Radcliffe College elected her a member honoris causa of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in 1995 as an alumna "who has shown breadth of culture and high intellectual power, and has made distinguished contributions to educational progress and the fine arts.