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NAASR Founding Chairman Manoog S. Young Passes Away at Age 94
by Armenian Weekly
July 7, 2012
Manoog Soghomon Young, the Founding Chairman of the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and its chairman
until 2001, passed away on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, at the age of 94.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years Barbara (Johnson) Young,
children Armen Young of Littleton, Mass., and Adrina Young Gobbi of
North Billerica, Mass., and grandchildren Jake and Mariah Gobbi and
Christopher and Lauren Young.
Manoog S. Young in 1955 and in 1995.
Visiting hours will be on Monday, July 9, from 6-9 p.m. at Giragosian
Funeral Home, 576 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, Mass., and funeral
services will be Tuesday, July 10, at 11 a.m. at St. James Armenian
Church, Watertown, Mass. Expressions of sympathy may be made in his
memory to St. James Armenian Church, 465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown,
MA, 02472, or NAASR, 395 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA, 02478.
`The Father of the Armenian Studies Movement' in America
Prof. Gerard J. Libaridian has aptly called Manoog Young `the father
of the Armenian Studies movement,' and this begins to give a sense of
Young's role in ushering into existence the field of Armenian Studies
in America and his half century working to advance it. One of the
founders of NAASR, which led the effort in the 1950s and 1960s to
establish permanent programs in Armenian Studies at American
institutions of higher learning, starting with Harvard University,
Young served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from its inception
in 1955 until 2001. During these decades both NAASR and the field of
Armenian Studies continued to evolve and expand.
After stepping down as Chairman Young remained on the NAASR Board and
maintained a keen interest in the development of the organization he
had led and the field he helped bring into being. On the occasion of
his 90th birthday in 2007, he stated that the Armenian community must
take pride in the creation and advancement of Armenian Studies,
`because you are responsible for it. I was one small cog in the whole
thing. I'd like to be here a hundred years from now and see all that
has transpired.'
Dedication and Historic Contributions Remembered
His successor as NAASR Chairman, Nancy R. Kolligian, remarked that
`the Armenian community, not only in this country, but worldwide, will
always be indebted to Manoog Young as the driving force behind the
creation of an organization in the U.S. that was essential in order to
promote our rich Armenian culture and history. He and his colleagues
worked tirelessly to advance this virtually non-existent field at the
university level and the first chair in Armenian Studies was
established [at Harvard] in 1959, a mere four years after the
establishment of NAASR. That achievement would not have been possible
were it not for the vision and endless devotion and energy of Manoog
S. Young.'
Current Chairman Raffi P. Yeghiayan stated that `Manoog Young guided
the development of Armenian Studies with the highest academic
standards and instigated the establishment of a multitude of endowed
chairs at top universities. The Armenian community in the United
States, and indeed worldwide, owes a great debt of gratitude to Manoog
for the advancement of Armenian Studies. The achievements he
accomplished are ongoing and will continue to flourish, a testimonial
to his legacy.'
James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard
since 1992, commenting on Young's `long life of extraordinary and
visionary labor in the service of the Armenian people and of human
scholarship,' observed that `it is not just that we have him to thank
for the very existence of university chairs in Armenian studies in
this country. He is a part of American-Armenian history itself, and
as it's now almost a hundred years on from the Genocide and
dispersion, the history of Armenians in this country is a very
important part of Armenian history.'
Margot Stern Strom, co-founder and Executive Director of Facing
History and Ourselves, of which Young was a longtime Board of Trustees
member, cited Young's lasting impact on that organization: `He was an
unsung hero for me and for Facing History and Ourselves. His deep
commitment to preserving the history and legacy of the Armenian
Genocide for future generations was inspiring and a critical part of
Facing History's work.'
Early Life, Education, and Professional Experience
Manoog S. Young was born in Boston, Mass., in 1917 to Soghomon and
Aghavni Malyemezian Young. Both parents were born in Kharpert, in the
Ottoman Empire and emigrated to the U.S. prior to the 1915 Armenian
Genocide. Young was raised in Boston's South End. He received a B.S.
in Mathematics and Physics from Northeastern University and a M.A. in
History and International Relations from Clark University, where he
wrote a thesis entitled `Russia and the Armenians, 1700-1923: Growth
of Russian Interest in Armenia, its Character and its Relation to the
Straits Question.' He also took courses at MIT, Boston University, and
the London School of Economics. During World War II, Young served in
the 8th and 9th Air Forces in Europe.
Young taught Physics and Applied Mechanics at the University of
Massachusetts; taught International Relations at Northeastern
University and History and Government at Brookline High School. In the
early 1950s he worked as an editorial assistant at the Armenian
Mirror-Spectator newspaper. He served as Business Manager and Bursar
at the Franklin Institute in Boston for more 27 years.
Affiliations and Many Honors
Young's many affiliations include the following: Founding Member,
Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Honorary Life Member, NAASR;
Member, Board of Trustees, Facing History and Ourselves National
Foundation; Honorary Board Member, Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City
Association; Chairman, AGBU Elementary School Board, Watertown, MA;
Chairman, American Veterans Committee Council of Massachusetts;
Founding Chairman, London School of Economics Foundation of America;
Co-Chairman, United Armenian Observance Committee of Greater Boston
for the 55th and 60th Anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide; Member,
Armenian Students' Association of America; Member, Society for
Armenian Studies.
Among the many honors bestowed upon Young are the St. Sahag and St.
Mesrob Medal from His Holiness, Catholicos Vazken I, for outstanding
service to the Armenian Community and Leadership in Promoting Armenian
Studies (1986), and the Arthur H. Dadian Armenian Heritage Award given
by the Armenian Students' Association in `recognition of his
outstanding contribution to the preservation of the rich Armenian
heritage.'
For more information about Manoog S. Young or the National Association
for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), contact [email protected],
617-489-1610, or write to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.
by Armenian Weekly
July 7, 2012
Manoog Soghomon Young, the Founding Chairman of the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and its chairman
until 2001, passed away on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, at the age of 94.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years Barbara (Johnson) Young,
children Armen Young of Littleton, Mass., and Adrina Young Gobbi of
North Billerica, Mass., and grandchildren Jake and Mariah Gobbi and
Christopher and Lauren Young.
Manoog S. Young in 1955 and in 1995.
Visiting hours will be on Monday, July 9, from 6-9 p.m. at Giragosian
Funeral Home, 576 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, Mass., and funeral
services will be Tuesday, July 10, at 11 a.m. at St. James Armenian
Church, Watertown, Mass. Expressions of sympathy may be made in his
memory to St. James Armenian Church, 465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown,
MA, 02472, or NAASR, 395 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA, 02478.
`The Father of the Armenian Studies Movement' in America
Prof. Gerard J. Libaridian has aptly called Manoog Young `the father
of the Armenian Studies movement,' and this begins to give a sense of
Young's role in ushering into existence the field of Armenian Studies
in America and his half century working to advance it. One of the
founders of NAASR, which led the effort in the 1950s and 1960s to
establish permanent programs in Armenian Studies at American
institutions of higher learning, starting with Harvard University,
Young served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from its inception
in 1955 until 2001. During these decades both NAASR and the field of
Armenian Studies continued to evolve and expand.
After stepping down as Chairman Young remained on the NAASR Board and
maintained a keen interest in the development of the organization he
had led and the field he helped bring into being. On the occasion of
his 90th birthday in 2007, he stated that the Armenian community must
take pride in the creation and advancement of Armenian Studies,
`because you are responsible for it. I was one small cog in the whole
thing. I'd like to be here a hundred years from now and see all that
has transpired.'
Dedication and Historic Contributions Remembered
His successor as NAASR Chairman, Nancy R. Kolligian, remarked that
`the Armenian community, not only in this country, but worldwide, will
always be indebted to Manoog Young as the driving force behind the
creation of an organization in the U.S. that was essential in order to
promote our rich Armenian culture and history. He and his colleagues
worked tirelessly to advance this virtually non-existent field at the
university level and the first chair in Armenian Studies was
established [at Harvard] in 1959, a mere four years after the
establishment of NAASR. That achievement would not have been possible
were it not for the vision and endless devotion and energy of Manoog
S. Young.'
Current Chairman Raffi P. Yeghiayan stated that `Manoog Young guided
the development of Armenian Studies with the highest academic
standards and instigated the establishment of a multitude of endowed
chairs at top universities. The Armenian community in the United
States, and indeed worldwide, owes a great debt of gratitude to Manoog
for the advancement of Armenian Studies. The achievements he
accomplished are ongoing and will continue to flourish, a testimonial
to his legacy.'
James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard
since 1992, commenting on Young's `long life of extraordinary and
visionary labor in the service of the Armenian people and of human
scholarship,' observed that `it is not just that we have him to thank
for the very existence of university chairs in Armenian studies in
this country. He is a part of American-Armenian history itself, and
as it's now almost a hundred years on from the Genocide and
dispersion, the history of Armenians in this country is a very
important part of Armenian history.'
Margot Stern Strom, co-founder and Executive Director of Facing
History and Ourselves, of which Young was a longtime Board of Trustees
member, cited Young's lasting impact on that organization: `He was an
unsung hero for me and for Facing History and Ourselves. His deep
commitment to preserving the history and legacy of the Armenian
Genocide for future generations was inspiring and a critical part of
Facing History's work.'
Early Life, Education, and Professional Experience
Manoog S. Young was born in Boston, Mass., in 1917 to Soghomon and
Aghavni Malyemezian Young. Both parents were born in Kharpert, in the
Ottoman Empire and emigrated to the U.S. prior to the 1915 Armenian
Genocide. Young was raised in Boston's South End. He received a B.S.
in Mathematics and Physics from Northeastern University and a M.A. in
History and International Relations from Clark University, where he
wrote a thesis entitled `Russia and the Armenians, 1700-1923: Growth
of Russian Interest in Armenia, its Character and its Relation to the
Straits Question.' He also took courses at MIT, Boston University, and
the London School of Economics. During World War II, Young served in
the 8th and 9th Air Forces in Europe.
Young taught Physics and Applied Mechanics at the University of
Massachusetts; taught International Relations at Northeastern
University and History and Government at Brookline High School. In the
early 1950s he worked as an editorial assistant at the Armenian
Mirror-Spectator newspaper. He served as Business Manager and Bursar
at the Franklin Institute in Boston for more 27 years.
Affiliations and Many Honors
Young's many affiliations include the following: Founding Member,
Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Honorary Life Member, NAASR;
Member, Board of Trustees, Facing History and Ourselves National
Foundation; Honorary Board Member, Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City
Association; Chairman, AGBU Elementary School Board, Watertown, MA;
Chairman, American Veterans Committee Council of Massachusetts;
Founding Chairman, London School of Economics Foundation of America;
Co-Chairman, United Armenian Observance Committee of Greater Boston
for the 55th and 60th Anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide; Member,
Armenian Students' Association of America; Member, Society for
Armenian Studies.
Among the many honors bestowed upon Young are the St. Sahag and St.
Mesrob Medal from His Holiness, Catholicos Vazken I, for outstanding
service to the Armenian Community and Leadership in Promoting Armenian
Studies (1986), and the Arthur H. Dadian Armenian Heritage Award given
by the Armenian Students' Association in `recognition of his
outstanding contribution to the preservation of the rich Armenian
heritage.'
For more information about Manoog S. Young or the National Association
for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), contact [email protected],
617-489-1610, or write to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.