FAR Fund Honors Legacy of Dr. Nerses ‘Krik’ Krikorian, Celebrated Scientist

And so began an illustrious career for Krik that spanned four and a half decades. It was in 1972, when he was asked to join an intelligence unit, though he didn’t know why. He suspected that the reason also included the fact that he spoke fluent Armenian and some Russian.

As a child, his parents had forced him to speak and write Armenian, as well as to learn the history, culture and literature of Armenia.

“As a kid, I thought it was useless,” he remembered. Why do I need to learn a language that hardly anyone speaks. I guess God knew what was coming.”

In the 1960s he had to translate Russian chemistry books into English. This information became very useful to the US government at the time.

“I’m an American,” he said. Feeling a deep commitment to America’s national security, he felt that the intelligence analysts were all motivated to keep the peace. “I feel obligated to this country. Look at what I have been able to accomplish here.”

Krik was always amazed that as a boy he had arrived in this country with papers that labeled him as “stateless,” and could rise to a position of security head for a US intelligence unit.

As the holder of six patents, Krik retired in 1991 after receiving countless honors, including the Los Alamos Medallion (its highest award), two honorary doctorates, the CIA’s Intelligence Community Medal, and in 2005, election as an honorary Doctor to Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences.

Recently, Krik’s daughter, Debra, in a telephone conversation, reminisced about her father’s strong link to his heritage. “My father felt strongly about his Armenian background. He was fluent in both modern and liturgical Armenian, and could read and write.”

Grandson of Genocide Survivors

She revealed that her grandparents suffered during the Genocide, with her grandmother’s immediate family all killed. Her grandfather’s brothers split, with the eldest moving to Canada, and the other brother going to Yerevan.

“My grandparents apparently masqueraded as Kurds during a portion of this odyssey as both were fluent in Kurdish. They never spoke to me about the Genocide,” Debra remembers.

She relates that when her father moved to New Mexico, there were very few Armenians, but in the 1950s and 1960s, a group of about 60 came together. “When I was a child we would get together with these families frequently even though it was 100 miles each way to see each other. During the 1980’s there were enough to establish a cultural organization as well as an Armenian church which my parents supported.”

She recalls that her father often read Armenian poetry, history and philosophy, and translated many writings “which he left to me. During the last days before his passing, he reverted to speaking Armenian and spoke to several of his Armenian friends. In short, he went back to his Armenian roots.”

Krikorian had opportunities to go to Armenia in the 1990s, first at the request of the US State Department to assist and engage with the scientists there. Later he visited and assisted through the audits of scientific projects funded through the International Science and Technology Center.

During these visits, he also happily met his relatives there. It was his wife “who had the heart and soul of an Armenian” who first went to Armenia in 1979, and found his relatives who still keep in contact with Debra to this day.

A scientist “in soul and heart,” Krikorian had been regularly contributing to one of the most effective Diasporan projects supporting cutting-edge research and development in Armenia — the Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF), run by the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) in New York City.

Following his personal wishes, a special endowment fund was established at FAR by his daughter after his death. Its goal is to perpetually support young researchers in universities in Armenia.

In a 2017 interview, Krikorian reflected, “things have worked out far beyond what I ever imagined. I think of my parents, and wonder, ‘How did they ever do it.’ My parents instilled in me the importance of doing the right thing and giving back to your fellow man. I hope I have done that.”