Honoring the Passing of Dr. Krikor Soghikian – Dedicated Benefactor and Teacher
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YEREVAN, Armenia – The American University of Armenia (AUA) is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Dr. Krikor Soghikian, a remarkable individual whose leadership and dedication played a vital role in the establishment of AUA’s Public Health program.
Dr. Soghikian will be remembered as a forward-thinking leader and compassionate teacher whose love for AUA inspired everyone he came in contact with, especially his many students who remember him fondly. He served as Visiting Professor of Public Health and as a director of students’ Master’s theses. He also contributed to the curriculum development of the Public Health program, whose graduates have been shaping the future of public health in Armenia and around the world for the past 20 years.
Gohar Panajyan, an alumna of the School of Public Health, stated “It is with great sadness that we learned about the passing of our respected professor, Dr. Grigor Soghikian. I had the privilege of being one of his students in the ”International Health Systems” course in 1997. He not only imparted new knowledge and perspectives on us, but also was a great mentor, teacher, and senior colleague who addressed our individual learning needs with great patience and readiness. We lost a great person, friend, and true Armenian. But all the new approaches, ideas and knowledge that he passed to us has helped immensely and will continue to guide us in the pursuit of health and well-being for all people.”
Dr. Soghikian’s generosity extended beyond creating programs and teaching students. His philanthropic support funded the establishment of the Public Health Reference Room at AUA, which now carries his name and serves as the best resource for AUA’s Public Health students and community members in this field. He also created and led the “Friends of AUA” group in the Bay Area to help provide fundraising opportunities that would support the university’s future.
In addition to his services to AUA, Dr. Soghikian is remembered for other contributions to the Armenian community both in the United States and Armenia. This includes teaching physicians in the primary care unit of the first polyclinic in Gyumri, chairing the Scientific Committee of the Armenian Medical Association Congress in San Francisco in 2005, and serving as Chair of the NorCal Board.
Dr. Krikor Soghikian received his MD from the University of Cairo and did his residency at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California and the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Oakland, California. After a brief return to Cairo, he joined the Permanente Medical Group in Oakland in 1955. He then received his MPH from the University of California at Berkeley in 1958. He also spent a year at the University of Leyden in Holland doing research in nephrology. Upon his return from Holland in 1963, he became Chief of the medical department at Kaiser Hospital in Richmond. Four years later, he returned to the Kaiser Hospital in Oakland as Chief of Preventive Medicine with an emphasis on health education. Later he served as the Head of Health Services Research at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and served as Instructor, Associate Clinical Professor and then Clinical Professor at the University of California at San Francisco.
Per the family’s request, a scholarship fund has been created at AUA under Krikor and Caline Soghikian to honor his memory. Donations for this purpose may be sent to AUA’s U.S. office at 300 Lakeside Drive, 7th Floor, Room 701, Oakland, CA 94612 or online through: https://aua.am/secure-online-payment/ . When making your contribution, please specify that your gift is to go towards the Krikor and Caline Soghikian Scholarship Fund.