HR0457 LRB096 13023 KXB 27217 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr.
4 Narbey Khachaturian of Philo, who passed away on May 14, 2009;
5 and
 
6     WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian was born January 12, 1924, a son
7 of Moses and Takouhi Khachaturian; he married Margaret Miles on
8 January 26, 1952, in Akron, Ohio; after being accepted at the
9 University of Illinois as a civil engineering undergraduate, he
10 left his home in Tehran and embarked for the United States on
11 December 7, 1944; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Going from his home to San Pedro, California,
13 during wartime took him more than four months and necessitated
14 several delays and changes to his initial travel plans along
15 the way; during this time, he occupied himself by embarking on
16 a self-taught course in Chinese; and
 
17     WHEREAS, In the weeks following his arrival in California,
18 he made the cross-country trip to Champaign-Urbana by train; he
19 received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D degrees in civil engineering
20 from the University of Illinois, working as a teaching
21 assistant, instructor, and graduate student under Professor T.
22 C. Shedd; he joined the department of civil engineering at the

 

 

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1 U of I as a faculty member in 1952 as an assistant professor,
2 and became full professor in 1960; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Professor Khachaturian held the part-time post of
4 assistant dean of engineering in the college of engineering in
5 1979-80 and assumed the role of associate head of the
6 department of civil engineering in 1983, a post he held until
7 his retirement in 1989; he was the adviser to numerous
8 undergraduate and graduate students and the mentor of 18
9 doctoral students; his first doctoral student, Fazlur Kahn,
10 went on to build the Sears Tower; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian served as faculty adviser to Chi
12 Epsilon, the civil engineering honorary, and received the
13 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Teacher
14 Award twice; he authored or co-authored 25 formal technical
15 publications, including one textbook on pre-stressed concrete
16 design; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Professor Khachaturian was very active in ASCE
18 throughout his career; he was a leader in the central Illinois
19 section, was a member of the Committee on Educational Research,
20 and the structural division Committee on Optimization of
21 Structures; he was one of the principal founders of the
22 Technical Council on Forensic Engineering in 1982 and served as
23 chair of its executive, education, and member education

 

 

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1 committees; and
 
2     WHEREAS, He was active in ACI and the American Society for
3 Engineering Education and was a member of NSPE; he was a strong
4 supporter of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
5 as a director and as president; and
 
6     WHEREAS, His honors include the Epstein Award, the
7 Outstanding Teacher ASCE Student Chapter Award, the John Parmer
8 Award of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois, the
9 Halliburton Award for Engineering Education leadership, the
10 Harold T. Larsen Award of Chi Epsilon and the Lifetime
11 Achievement Award of the ASCE Illinois Section; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Recently Dr. Khachaturian took part in the Chi
13 Epsilon Induction Ceremonies with his U of I civil engineer
14 son, Jon, and his U of I civil engineer grandson, Matthew; in
15 all of his endeavors, Dr. Khachaturian demonstrated the highest
16 standards of professionalism and set professional standards of
17 excellence that serve as a lasting model for students and
18 faculty alike; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian was raised in the Armenian
20 Orthodox Faith; and throughout his life was active in Christian
21 Ministries; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, He is survived by his wife; his children, Greg
2 Khachaturian, Jon (Bobbi) Khachaturian, Mary (Bill) Thrift,
3 and Steve (Janet) Khachaturian; his grandchildren, Matthew
4 Khachaturian, Sara Khachaturian, Bethany Khachaturian, Michael
5 Thrift, David Thrift, Steven Thrift, Nathaniel Khachaturian,
6 Christian Khachaturian, Benjamin Khachaturian, and Grace
7 Khachaturian; and his siblings, Arek Khachaturian (Diane) and
8 Juliet Ter-Sarkissian; therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11 mourn, along with his family, friends, colleagues, and former
12 students, the passing of Dr. Khachaturian; and be it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to the family of Dr. Narbey Khachaturian as a symbol
15 of our sincere sympathy.