Women of Excellence

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Mary Terzian

Title: Author, Freelance Writer, Blogger, Public Speaker
Industry: Publishing
Type of Organization: Publishing
Major Product/Service: Writing
Expertise: With over 50 years experience, Ms. Terzian is responsible for writing articles which have been included in newspapers, magazines, blogs and online forums. She is currently writing books.
Geographic Area of Distribution: International
Affiliations: Writers Club Whittier
University/Degree: Courses, Haigazian College, Beirut, Lebanon ,1966; Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York, 1969; B.S., Business Administration, California State University, Los Angeles, 1977
Born: Cairo, Egypt
Hobbies/Sports: Social involvement, reading, evening news, webinars, entertaining, travel, creativity, domestic arts
Spouse: Ashod Tertzakian (deceased)
Married: 1968
Children: Ani Tertzakian O’Donnell
Work History: Ms. Terzian originally served with United Nations agencies in 3 countries in French and English. She served as a Personnel Assistant in Alexandria, Egypt, as a Secretary to the CEO for the UN operations in Leopoldville, Congo and later as Secretary to the Spokesman for the same organization. In 1964 she moved to the World Health Organization branch in Leopoldville. She also served as an Administrative Secretary to the U.N. representative in Lome, Togo. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1967, Ms. Terzian worked for 3 years in New York before moving to Los Angeles to complete her education. She was then hired as an Internal Auditor at the Aerospace Corporation in 1982 and took early retirement after 12 years.
Honors & Awards: Several Awards, for speech contests from Toastmasters Inc. and the California Writers' Club; Awards for article contests, San Fernando; Plaque, from The Aerospace Retirees Club as "Newsletter Editor Extraordinaire", 2000; Scholarship from PEN USA Emerging Voices, 2001
Published Works: "The Immigrants' Daughter, A Private Battle to Earn the Right to Self-Actualization," ISBN: 978-1591137733; "Politically Homeless" A Five-Year Odyssey Across Three Continents," ISBN: 978-1504913119;
Bookstore: This member has the following books and/or publications listed in the Strathmore Worldwide Online Bookstore:

  • Politically Homeless: A Five-year Odyssey across Three Continents - Category: Biography
  • The Immigrants' Daughter: A Private Battle to Earn the Right to Self-actualization - Category: Culture
Career Accomplishments: Though active always, early retirement has brought Ms. Terzian the opportunity and freedom to work at what she loves best, writing. She continues to live an active social life in Los Angeles. Currently, she keeps memberships with two Writers' clubs, travels on important missions and enjoys creative activities.