 Der Nersessian was the first woman to teach Byzantine art at a woman’s college, the first woman to be decorated with the medal of Saint Gregory the Illuminator by Catholicos Vazgen I in 1960, the first woman invited to lecture at the Collège de France in Paris, the only woman in her time to gain full professorship at Dumbarton Oaks, and the second woman to be honored with a gold medal from the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1970.In 1947, she received the Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women.Der Nersessian remained at Dumbarton Oaks until 1978, when she retired to France and lived with her sister in Paris.