Achievements of Armenians

The scientific and technical accomplishments of the Armenians are impressive, given the fact that Armenians have not had a free country to call their own until 1991.

In the United States, Armenians-Americans made important contributions in medicine and the sciences. In medicine, Raymond Darmadian developed the first MRI machine. Michel Ter-Pogossian co-invented positron emission tomography scanning, which is used for functional brain imaging and cancer detection. Dr. J.W. Kebabian and Dr. George Aghajanian both did pioneering research that has allowed for the development for more effective antipsychotics drugs.

Dr. Alex Sevanian helped establish that oxidized low-density lipoprotein plays a role in atherosclerosis. Dr. Varaztad Kazanjian was a pioneer in reconstructive surgery and has been called the father of plastic surgery. Haroutune Krikor Daghlian Jr. was an important physicist in the U.S. nuclear weapons research program at Los Alamos and died from exposure to excess radiation at age 28. Edward Keonjian developed the first pocket-sized, solar-powered radio transmitter. In computer science, Avedis Tevanian was the architect of the Apple OS X operating system.

In the former Soviet Union and today’s Russia, Russian Armenians have also made important contributions in the sciences and technology. Levon Mikhailovich Chailakhyan was a Soviet Armenian biologist who was the first to clone a mouse, known as Masha. Masha the mouse was the first mammal to be cloned, years before Dolly the Sheep. Yuri Oganessian is a Russian Armenian physicist who discovered a new element called element 114, which was added to the periodic table. The famous Russian MIG fighter aircraft were designed by a Russian Armenian aeronautical engineer named Artem Mikoyan. MIG was an abbreviation of Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau.

When given the opportunity, Armenians have achieved important contributions to benefit mankind.

Patrick Movsessian

Glendale