Harry Kizirian

Harry Kizirian, recognized as a national treasure by the RI Hall of Fame, was a first- generation Armenian American whose parents were survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Kizirian was from the Chad Brown neighborhood and a top athlete at Mt Pleasant High School. While in high school, Kizirian worked in a meat packing plant and the postoffice. The day after graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps. Kizirian became the most decorated WWII serviceman from Rhode Island. He was awarded the Navy Cross, the RI Cross, the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and the Purple Heart twice. In 1961 Kizirian was appointed Providence Postmaster by President John F. Kennedy-one of the youngest in the US. During his tenure, one of his many accomplishments was to establish the first automated post office in the country. The Harry Kizirian Post Office became the first US federal building named after an Armenian. The Harry Kizirian Elementary School is in the Smith Hill neighborhood. 

Tateos Heditisian 

Tateos Heditisian, born in 1888 in Western Armenia, came to the US when he was 17 years old and before long established himself as a tailor. In 1925 he was approached by Colonel Everitte St John Chaffee of the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) to design and sew trooper uniforms. Heditisian measured each trooper and hand sewed each uniform. Heditisian's design of the uniform is still worn today by the RI State Police. Heditisian and his wife Mantoohe were honored by their daughter, Corrine, the second chair of Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island (AHARI); AHARl's main gallery was dedicated to their memory. The dedication of the gallery took place in October 2017.

Dr. John Nazarian 

Dr. John Nazarian has been a member of the Rhode Island College community for 58 years, beginning in 1950 as a freshman of what was then called the Rhode Island College of Education. He graduated in 1954, teaching mathematics and physics, Nazarian became the College's eighth President in 1990. Dr. Nazarian retired in 2008 as Rhode Island College's longest-tenured President. His legacy included strong fiscal stewardship, the significant expansion and improvements with facilities and educational opportunities by developing new programs to support higher education such as RI C's first PhD program which is a result of Dr. Nazarian partnering with URI. The Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated in the name of Dr. Nazarian, an avid musician, on September 15, 2000. The building marked a new beginning for Rhode Island College's department of performance and fine arts. The $10 million commitment provided new teaching and learning spaces for faculty and students as well as quality performance spaces for student and professional performances on campus.

Judge Haiganush R. Bedrosian 

Judge Haiganush R. Bedrosian is a Woman of Firsts: She was the first woman to be appointed to Family Court in 1980 and the first woman appointed as the Chief Justice of Family Court in 2010. Bedrosian is the daughter of Armenian immigrants. Some of the initiatives undertaken by the court while Bedrosian was at the helm include broadening the mediation program in domestic and state Department of Children, Youth and Families matters and expanding the family treatment drug court. Bedrosian is a Cranston East graduate as well as Brown University (Pembroke college) and Suffolk University Law School. Bedrosian prided herself on making sure all parties had the opportunity to speak, to have a voice in the court and have the chance to share their story. "Our goal is to keep families intact by leading them towards the proper services," she said. It's easier to serve families when you know all the problems they are facing. 

Scott Avedisian 

Scott Avedisian is the youngest person elected as Mayor of Warwick- an office that he has held since 2000 and was the youngest person ever elected to the Warwick City Council representing Ward 1 from 1990 to 2000. Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian was born in Warwick and educated in the public schools of Warwick and Washington, DC. He graduated from Providence College, earned a master's Degree in Public Administration from Roger Williams University, completed the State and Local program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the New England Institute of Technology. He was chosen as one of 24 inaugural Aspen-Radel fellows by the Aspen Institute, a bi-partisan group of elected officials charged with reclaiming the middle ground of American politics. Mayor Avedisian has championed human services reform and environmental protection. 

Aram Garabedian 

Aram Garabedian is a first-generation Armenian from the Smith-hill neighborhood. He is currently co-managing partner of the Warwick Mall and oversees Bliss Properties. In 2017, he received National Secretaries of State Medallion Award for civic duty. Garabedian began in 1966 as a Cranston School Committee member and went on to become House Representative for 3 terms as well as President of the Cranston City Council. In 2000, Garabedian co-sponsored a bill mandating cities and towns across the state to improve teaching of genocide and holocaust in schools - the first such bill in the US. I got involved big-time in holocaust, genocide, veteran's affairs, so many issues, he said. The thing that always drove me was the common good, and that comes from my mother, who said I should help everybody I could.

Vartan Gregorian 

Vartan Gregorian, Iranian-born Armenian-American, was the former president of Brown University and the namesake of the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School in Providence. Currently, Gregorian is the President of the Carnegie Corporation in New York City. Former positions include President of the New York Public Library, and faculty positions with University of California, Los Angeles University of Pennsylvania, and San Francisco State College. Gregorian's numerous awards include Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986, Gold Medal for Service to the Arts in 1998 by the American Academy of the Institute of Arts and Letter, National Humanities Medal by President Clinton, Medal of Freedom by President Bush and member of the White House Fellowships by President Obama. In 2015 Gregorian along with Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan launched a new humanitarian effort called 100 lives in commemoration of the 100'" anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. 

Carolyn Rafaelian 

Carolyn Rafaelian founded Alex and Ani, a jewelry line named after her two eldest daughters - with 5 cocktail rings and expanded into a full line of jewelry anchored by its patented expandable wire bangle. Awards include 2012 RI Small Businessperson of the Year and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the products category for New England. Charitable initiatives include Charity by Design. In 2016, Rafaelian was listed 22nd in Forbes American's Richest Self-Made Women and America's richest jeweler Rafaelian has diversified her business to include a café franchise called Teas and Javas to be re-named Bar & Board as well as the winery Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard. Rafaelian, granddaughter of Armenian immigrants, sees herself as living proof that the .. . American dream is still alive and well; this time through the eyes of the feminine and all the magic that follows the journey.