Dr. Aram Aghazarian spent 45 years of his life serving as a faculty member at Klein College. By the time he retired from what was then known as the School of Communications and Theater in 2008, he had served as the chair of the Department of Strategic Communication (now known as the Department of Communication and Social Influence) for 12 years. 

His deep connection with Temple University began after he served in the Army during the Korean War. When he returned home, he took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled at Temple, where he earned a B.S. in business and management and a master of liberal arts.

After graduating, Aghazarian began his 45-year career at Klein College. By the time he retired from what was then known as the School of Communications and Theater in 2008, he had served as the chair of the Department of Strategic Communication (now known as the Department of Communication and Social Influence) for 12 years. 

He and his future wife, Lucy, both agreed they should get married but Aghazarian encouraged her to get her degree first. So Lucy, originally from Marseille, France, graduated from West Chester University after three years of study. After that, the couple was married at the Chapel of the Four Chaplains, located in the historic Temple Performing Arts Center, by the school chaplain.

“I remember our wedding in front of those iron gates,” Lucy said. “That was a happy day.”

Aghazarian was a tall man, which Lucy said caused some to misjudge him.

“He had an impressive demeanor,” she said. “But there was such gentleness about him. People used to be so intimidated by him, but he would open his mouth and be so quiet. Most importantly, he was someone with such integrity.”

In 1965, Myles Martel was pursuing his master’s degree and doctorate in rhetoric, and was serving as a teaching assistant. Aghazarian was his boss, and Martel was not among those who found him intimidating.

Their work relationship would be spark a friendship that lasted 53 years. Martel and his wife, Leslie, even took vacations to Turkey and Greece with Aram and Lucy. Martel remembers his friend as having a “beguilingly wicked sense of humor.”

In 1991, Aghazarian began a 10-year stint as senior director at Martel’s firm (while still working at Temple), Martel and Associates, which provides leadership counsel to companies with communication needs. At the firm, he had a reputation for being ethically and intellectually gifted, serving as a role model for much of the staff.

“He had a gift for deftly getting to the core issues, no matter how complex,” Martel said. “I miss him terribly. He was a very big part of my life.”

Out of respect for his friend, Martel created the Aram Aghazarian Award, which goes to a Klein College student who portrays leadership qualities through his or her academic and extracurricular activities.

But there was a great deal more to Aghazarian than his career.

“He loved acting,” Lucy said. ‘That was his passion.”

In 1958-1958, he was a  member of Temple University’s Temple Players. He even played Leopold Bloom at the Society Hill Playhouse’s production of “Ulysses in Nighttown” in 1984. 

And his passion even passed on to Lucy and Aram’s daughter and son, Lori and Aram Alan, both of whom are Temple University graduates. Aram Alan is an adjunct professor in theater at the Community College of Philadelphia as well as a performer. Lori is a stage manager at the Walnut Street Theatre and is currently working on a production of “Mama Mia.”

“We only had a vague knowledge of him being an actor when we were younger, but they always took us to see theater when we were younger,” said Lori, who remembers seeing her father act once at a women’s theater festival. “I remember him telling me that he got flowers for his stage manager.”

Lori’s parents were so proud of her job at the theater that, despite the fact that they could have gotten free tickets, they became subscribers and attended nearly every one of her shows.

Theater isn’t all that Lori carries on from her father. She credits him with her skills in communication and persuasion, which both are quite useful for her at work. He would also take her along to auctions so they could bid on and collect antiques. She won her first auction at 13 and continues the tradition to this day.

Aghazarian spent a great deal of time with his family. Because Aram was a professor of strategic at Klein College and Lucy was a professor of French at the Community College of Philadelphia, family summers were open for trips to Maine, the Jersey Shore, Cape Cod, Mexico and France. 

“This I can say with confidence, the family was completely in love with him,” Martel said. “Aram constantly let me know this.”

And it’s clear that the love still remains.

“He was a wonderful family man,” Lucy remembered. “And family was really his foundation.”