Ara Vahan Dumanian

DR. ARA VAHAN DUMANIAN FORMERLY OF NORTHWEST INDIANA
Prominent surgeon Dr. Ara Vahan Dumanian, a pioneer in heart surgery, died at the age of 81 at his home in Palo Alto, CA on August 5, 2010. He is survived by Edma, his wife of 52 years. He is also survived by his three children and their spouses: his daughter Tania Tour-Sarkissian and her husband Paul, of San Francisco; his son Dr. Gregory Dumanian and his wife Randa, of Chicago, and his son Peter Dumanian and his wife Elizabeth, of Los Altos, CA. He leaves seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Dr. Krikor Doumanian and his wife Mette, of Los Angeles; and numerous nieces and nephews. The son of Armenian Genocide survivors, Dr. Dumanian was born in 1929 in Alexandretta (Iskanderoun), Syria. He lived there until age 9, when his family moved to Aleppo, Syria. In 1949 he entered the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Graduating in 1953 with his medical degree, Dr. Dumanian emigrated to the U.S. and began his internship and residency as a surgeon in Chicago. From 1956 through 1962, Dr. Dumanian trained as a general surgeon and then as a heart surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Blessed with boundless energy, Dr. Dumanian simultaneously obtained his Masters (1960) and his Ph.D. (1961) in Surgery from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Dumanian entered private practice in 1962 in northwest Indiana, where he was the first heart surgeon in the area. For the next 26 years, his patients benefited from his dedication and his mastery of the latest advances in heart surgery. Dr. Dumanian performed over 17,000 surgeries, of which 3,500 were open heart surgeries, saving lives that previously would have been lost and improving the lives of countless patients and their families. Even after he retired in 1988 to enjoy life in Chicago and extensive travel with his wife, Dr. Dumanian's advice was continually sought by people familiar with his medical prowess. He always responded with the acumen and compassion that characterized his entire medical career. Dr. Dumanian was equally generous in his philanthropic endeavors. He established the Ara and Edma Dumanian Foundation in 1987 and contributed to causes ranging from the Lyric Opera of Chicago to battered women's shelters. Dr. Dumanian was honored as a Prince of Cilicia by the Armenian Apostolic Church for his efforts on the church's behalf both in the U.S. and in Lebanon. Dr. and Mrs. Dumanian teamed with the United Armenian Cultural Association in 1977 to provide the initial seed money for the Armenian Studies program at the University of Chicago. Over the next three decades, Dr. and Mrs. Dumanian continued to fund the program, now known as the Dumanian Armenian Studies Endowment, ensuring for the future that Armenian history and language courses would be offered at the University of Chicago. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, if desired, donations may be made to the Dumanian Armenian Studies Endowment at the University of Chicago, c/o Associate Dean Katie Malmquist, University of Chicago, Walker Museum 213, 1115 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.