LOS ANGELES, CA - Dr. Vilik Markari Haroutunian, Director of Lazerayin Tekhnika Research and Production Center and Professor and Chair of Quantum Electronics at Yerevan State University, and the first Minister of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia (1990-1991), died on August 19, having succumbed to a heart attack during a staff meeting at his office. He was 64 years old. He leaves his wife Lena, an architect, two daughters, Gayane and Karine, and three grandchildren.

Vilik, as his friends called him, was a person of exceptional talents as a scientist and educator. The scientific community of Armenia has lost one of its foremost leaders. He had graduated from the Department of Physics of Moscow State University in 1959 and had received his Candidate's degree in 1963 and the Doctor's degree in 1972. The Lazerayin Tekhnika was his brainchild, and he nurtured it to make it an internationally renowned scientific center. It is at this institute where pioneering research is done in non-linear optics, solid-state lasers, crystal growth for laser applications, and the development of laser technology in general. The Center was founded in 1988, and it soon attracted international attention. In the past ten years, eight doctoral and more than thirty candidate of sciences dissertations have been defended at the Lazerayin Tekhnika.

During his visit to the United States in 1993, when he met the directors of the Center for Laser Studies at the University of Southern California and the Technology Division of Litton Industries, he amazed them, academic and industrial institutes alike, with his personal knowledge of the state of the art as well as with the accomplishments of the Lazerayin Tekhnika. In a small country removed from the European and US centers of research, Vilik Haroutunian had achieved in a short time a scientific zenith that only a person of his talent and commitment could reach.

My personal recollections of Vilik Haroutunian are during the time he served as Minister of Higher Education and Science. In my more than ten years of educational work in Armenia, I can say that he was the exception when it came to decisiveness and commitment. He did not hesitate to make a decision, and his superiors, the President and the Prime Minister, were quick to support him because they believed in his integrity, judgment and dedication. One example that personally touched me was during the initial period of the establishment of the American University of Armenia (AUA). I met with him in his office and we reviewed the plans and the program of the university. He said he believed in the importance of having a new university with a Western outlook as an addition to the existing institutions, and he did not hesitate to adopt the project as a joint venture with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Vilik showed me a run-down office and said that I could work there to write the charter of the university. He said he would provide the staff to help me comply with the then Soviet laws. The next day, when I went to the office, I could not believe the transformation. The walls were painted (one had beautiful wallpaper), the floor was carpeted, desks and telephones were in place, and the Deputy Minister was waiting for me so we could work together for the preparation of the charter. And this is the decisiveness with which he acted in all responsibilities that were given to him by his government. I have always thought that Vilik Haroutunian should be the symbol of a government official in Armenia who gets things done on time and puts the welfare of his country ahead of personal considerations.

My association with Vilik continued even after he resigned from his post as Minister. He said he had differences of opinion with the new Prime Minister, and he thought best to devote his time on the development of the Lazerayin Tekhnika Center. The results of his work stand as a monument to Armenian science and technology. Although he had major responsibilities as the director of a large organization, he continued to be actively involved with AUA as a member of the Joint Board of Directors. I always sought his advice when I made my frequent visits to Yerevan.

I consider Vilik as one of the founders of the American University of Armenia. His memory will remain with all those who have any association with higher education and science in Armenia. His outstanding contributions have given him the distinction of being a true citizen of his country. We hope that persons of his initiative and leadership will come from the ranks and continue his good works.