HR0457 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0457 LRB096 13023 KXB 27217 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Narbey Khachaturian of Philo, who passed away on May 14, 2009; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian was born January 12, 1924, a son of Moses and Takouhi Khachaturian; he married Margaret Miles on January 26, 1952, in Akron, Ohio; after being accepted at the University of Illinois as a civil engineering undergraduate, he left his home in Tehran and embarked for the United States on December 7, 1944; and

WHEREAS, Going from his home to San Pedro, California, during wartime took him more than four months and necessitated several delays and changes to his initial travel plans along the way; during this time, he occupied himself by embarking on a self-taught course in Chinese; and

WHEREAS, In the weeks following his arrival in California, he made the cross-country trip to Champaign-Urbana by train; he received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois, working as a teaching assistant, instructor, and graduate student under Professor T. C. Shedd; he joined the department of civil engineering at the U of I as a faculty member in 1952 as an assistant professor, and became full professor in 1960; and

WHEREAS, Professor Khachaturian held the part-time post of assistant dean of engineering in the college of engineering in 1979-80 and assumed the role of associate head of the department of civil engineering in 1983, a post he held until his retirement in 1989; he was the adviser to numerous undergraduate and graduate students and the mentor of 18 doctoral students; his first doctoral student, Fazlur Kahn, went on to build the Sears Tower; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian served as faculty adviser to Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honorary, and received the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Teacher Award twice; he authored or co-authored 25 formal technical publications, including one textbook on pre-stressed concrete design; and

WHEREAS, Professor Khachaturian was very active in ASCE throughout his career; he was a leader in the central Illinois section, was a member of the Committee on Educational Research, and the structural division Committee on Optimization of Structures; he was one of the principal founders of the Technical Council on Forensic Engineering in 1982 and served as chair of its executive, education, and member education committees; and

WHEREAS, He was active in ACI and the American Society for Engineering Education and was a member of NSPE; he was a strong supporter of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois as a director and as president; and

WHEREAS, His honors include the Epstein Award, the Outstanding Teacher ASCE Student Chapter Award, the John Parmer Award of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois, the Halliburton Award for Engineering Education leadership, the Harold T. Larsen Award of Chi Epsilon and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the ASCE Illinois Section; and

WHEREAS, Recently Dr. Khachaturian took part in the Chi Epsilon Induction Ceremonies with his U of I civil engineer son, Jon, and his U of I civil engineer grandson, Matthew; in all of his endeavors, Dr. Khachaturian demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and set professional standards of excellence that serve as a lasting model for students and faculty alike; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Khachaturian was raised in the Armenian Orthodox Faith; and throughout his life was active in Christian Ministries; and

WHEREAS, He is survived by his wife; his children, Greg Khachaturian, Jon (Bobbi) Khachaturian, Mary (Bill) Thrift, and Steve (Janet) Khachaturian; his grandchildren, Matthew Khachaturian, Sara Khachaturian, Bethany Khachaturian, Michael Thrift, David Thrift, Steven Thrift, Nathaniel Khachaturian, Christian Khachaturian, Benjamin Khachaturian, and Grace Khachaturian; and his siblings, Arek Khachaturian (Diane) and Juliet Ter-Sarkissian; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family, friends, colleagues, and former students, the passing of Dr. Khachaturian; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dr. Narbey Khachaturian as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.