Edgar Minas Housepian ( – ) was an American neurosurgeon at

New York Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

, and a Professor in the Department of Neurology at

Columbia University Medical School Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

, where he was on the faculty for almost 60 years. He wrote more than 100 articles about neurosurgery, and was a co-founder of the

Fund for Armenian Relief The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) is a US humanitarian organization. It provides short-term emergency relief and long-term programs focusing on child protection, economic development, education, health care, and social services. FAR was founded i ...

. At Columbia University he was also made the Dean’s special advisor for international affiliations, affiliating with universities and students on five continents to create educational opportunities which 60% of Columbia University’s medical students were taking advantage of by the time of his death.

Early life and education

Edgar Minas Housepian was born March 18, 1928, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was the son of physician

Moses Housepian Moses Minas Housepian (Armenian: , 1876 – December 11, 1952) was a Syrian-born Armenian-American physician and humanitarian aid worker. Biography Moses Minas Housepian was born in 1876 in Kessab, Cilicia, Ottoman Empire (now Syria). He escap ...

and the brother of the author

Marjorie Housepian Dobkin Marjorie Anaïs Housepian Dobkin () was an author and an English professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York. Her books include the novel ''A Houseful of Love'' (a '' New York Times'' and ''New York Herald Tribune'' bestseller) an ...

. He attended

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

. Housepian graduated from Columbia College in 1949 and the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

in 1953. He was married to Marion Grace (née Lyon), together they had three children.

Career

From c.1953 until 1997, he worked at the

Neurological Institute of New York The Neurological Institute of New York, is an American hospital research center located at 710 West 168th Street at the corner of Fort Washington Avenue in the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center in the Washington ...

, a research hospital and joint venture between

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

and

Columbia University Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes C ...

. In response to the

1988 Armenian earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...

, Housepian and two other

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

s, Archbishop

Torkom Manoogian Patriarch Torkom Manoogian (, he, תורגום מנוקיאן; 16 February 1919 – 12 October 2012) was the List of Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem serving the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He was the 96th ...

of the

Armenian Church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, and the builder

Kevork Hovnanian Kevork S. Hovnanian (1923 – September 24, 2009) was an Armenian-American businessman and home builder, who founded Hovnanian Enterprises in 1959. He remained the president and chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises until his retirement i ...

, created the

. He retired from neurosurgical practice in 1997, at the age of 69. He received dozens of awards and honors, including the Presidential Citation of Armenia in 1994; an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the

Armenian National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա, ՀՀ ԳԱԱ, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri az ...

and an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine from

Yerevan State Medical University The Mkhitar Heratsi Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU, hy, Երեվանի Մխիթար Հերացու անվան Պետական Բժշկական Համալսարան), is an Armenian medical university located in Yerevan, Armenia. History On ...

in 1997; the Humanitarian Award of the

American Association of Neurological Surgeons The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association focused on advancing the specialty of neurological surgery. The organization has over 8,000 members around the world. It is one of the five Conti ...

in 2002; and the Dr. Edgar Housepian Professorship in Neurological Surgery at Columbia University Medical School, established by the university's board of trustees and named in his honor.

Death and legacy

He died on November 14, 2014, in Englewood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 2019, the Edgar Housepian Neurology and Neurosurgery Center was opened at Arabkir Plus Medical Center in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. In addition to being named in his honor the facility has a bust of Housepian sculpted by his daughter, Jean Housepian.

References

External links

Edgar Housepian's archived papers
in the collection of the health sciences library at Columbia University {{DEFAULTSORT:Housepian, Edgar 1928 births 2014 deaths American people of Armenian descent Physicians from New York City American neurosurgeons Columbia Medical School faculty NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital physicians Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni