All Eyes on Ernie: Dr. Ernest Barsamian Receives Medal from Armenian Government

This sentiment applies directly to Barsamian, who himself was able to attend the university only through a scholarship.

Barsamian finished high school at age 15 in Aleppo, and started attending Aleppo College, a junior college. “I dreamt that one day I could attend AUB,” he recalled, adding that instead, after that first year, he worked for four years to support his family. He was finally able to enroll at AUB in 1946 through a scholarship given by Harry Dorman, then president of AUB and grandfather of Peter Dorman.

Opening the AUB program was Dr. Raja Sayegh, president of the New England chapter, who praised the evening’s honoree. “We stand on the shoulders of giants like him,” said Sayegh, adding that Barsamian happens to be the founding president of the New England chapter of the AUB alumni. He said the goal of the chapter and others around the world is to raise funds to help students attend a university that “for 150 years has been impacting the region in a positive way.” Jeffrey Karam, vice president of the New England alumni chapter, who is a PhD candidate at Brandeis University, delivered the keynote address.

He spoke fondly about AUB and the achievements of its alumni worldwide. “Tonight is your chance to get back to our beautiful alma mater. We have had our fair share of an AUB experience, at a campus that has changed the lives of many in this room,” Karam said.

He told the story of Barsamian’s life, how as a child growing up in Aleppo, higher education was not even supposed to be in the cards. Instead, he said, Barsamian became someone “who improved the lives of everyone that he came into contact with. He inspires many of us though it would not have been possible without the financial support of AUB. Just like Ernie, many young bright minds need our help,” Karam said. “The world needs more Ernies and together we can make that happen.”

He implored everyone to make donations to the AUB scholarship fund, so that students in that unstable region do not have to worry about inflation and can instead look toward a brighter future.

Another speaker, Dr. Michael Charness, who had been recruited by Barsamian at the VA Hospital as a staff neurologist in 1989 and served as chief of neurology at the Brockton- West Roxbury VA and the VA Boston Healthcare System. He praised Barsamian for being both proactive and smart, praising Barsamian as someone who knew how to treat patients as well as how to teach students.

“I came to the West Roxbury VA in 1989. I came because Ernie Barsamian gave me an opportunity. He was willing to take a chance,” he said. “It is the legacy of all great leaders. He sees things in people that they themselves don’t.” Charness also praised the education provided by AUB, noting that every chief of surgery at the VA was a graduate of the school. He noted, however, that it was not a case of AUB graduates helping each other, rather “they achieved their legacy because they were so good.”

“Ernie held the reigns of power for most of his career with dignity, honor and distinction,” Charness said, adding that he helped several staff members to develop their careers and go on to great careers. Said Michael Lawson, the recently retired director of the VA Boston Healthcare System, “He is the warmest man I have ever met. And he is the best man in the medical field,” he said, sharing a tight hug with the honoree. “Ernie Barsamian has lived. He has created action and passion in his time.”

Another speaker, old friend and colleague Dr. Aram Chobanian, president emeritus of Boston University and dean emeritus of the Boston University School of Medicine, said he first met Ernie, as he was called throughout the night by the speakers, when he came to Boston City Hospital. He spoke briefly and then sang a short song he had written for the occasion, as he said he now has time to indulge his hobby of music.

Dr. Joseph Martin, a member of the AUB Board of Trustees and dean emeritus of the Harvard Medical School, spoke about his 30-year ties with AUB. Martin praised the connections formed between Boston University and Harvard medical schools, which “came together in [providing] clinical care” at the VA hospital in Boston. He praised, especially, that those were two separate, private universities, which could only come up with this collaboration “through leadership like Ernie’s.”

He noted that the West Roxbury VA is the top-ranked veterans’ hospital in the country. “I thank you, Ernie, for your leadership and support.”

The honoree, in his comments thanked the assembled for their kind words. “The award I am getting is a very special one, as it is from my fellow alumni of AUB, that we all love and cherish so much.”

He spoke about his late wife, whom he had met there as a student and his pain and her passing from cancer. He noted, however, that these past eight years, he has been restored again by meeting his “best friend,” V. Sonig Kradjian. He also thanked his children. “I couldn’t ask for a better immediate or extended family.”

“I am very proud to have improved healthcare for our deserving veterans,” Barsamian said.

In an interview after the program, Barsamian credited some opportune chances that came his way, noting that he knew he needed to jump on them.

The members of the gala organizing committee were: Tamar Chamassian Kouspakian, Roula Chahine Rayyad, Joanne Gholmie, Nicole Babikian Hajjar, Gheed Amara Itani and Sana Tannoury Karam.