Featured Alumni

  • Dr. Katherine Fundukian-Thorossian

    Class of 1980

    On Wednesday, June 26th, the Monrovia Unified School District Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. Katherine Fundukian-Thorossian as Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Fundukian-Thorossian will begin her duties on Monday July 1st.

    Dr. Fundukian-Thorossian is currently serving as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services in the Glendale Unified School District. She has served in this position since July 2008. Prior to that, she was the Principal of Glendale High School from 2005 to 2008. From 1995 to 2005, Dr. Fundukian-Thorossian served as an Assistant Principal and Counselor at Diamond Bar High School in the Walnut Valley Unified School District. She also taught English in grades 9-12 at Diamond Bar High School from 1986 to 1995.

    Dr. Fundukian-Thorossian earned her Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Southern California in 2009. She also earned a Master of Science Degree in Counseling from California State University Los Angeles in 1986 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1984.

    She also completed the Association of California School Administrators’ Superintendent’s Academy in 2009.
    Some of her honors include the Davidian Mariamian Educational Foundation Educator of the Year in January 2012 and the Glendale Council of Parent-Teacher Association’s Honorary Service Award in January 2011. In 2009 she was awarded the Armenian-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles’ Women in Business Excellence award.

    Dr. Fundukian-Thorossian is an active member of the Association of California School Administrators. She has also served as a YMCA Board Member, and is affiliated with the Sunrise Rotary International of Glendale, the Glendale Healthy Kids Board, and the Glendale Adventist Hospital Civic Advisory Board.

    Source: Asbarez

  • Dr. Saro Manoukian

    Class of 1999

    The proud Mesrobian Lifer and Valedictorian of the Class of 1999, earned his MD degree from New York Medical College in 2009, his Master of Science in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, Washington, DC in 2005, and his Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology (minor in Music) from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003. He has also done post-graduate training with UCLA Medical Center Los Angeles, Saint Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts, and Alameda County Medical Center.

    Source: Facebook 

  • Dr. Boris Bagdasarian

    Dr. Bagdasarian was born and raised in Montebello, California and attended the Armenian Mesrobian School. He continued his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California. His medical school training was conducted at the Western University of Health Sciences where he graduated Magna Cum laude. Dr. Bagdasarian was chief resident in Internal Medicine at the White Memorial Medical Center and continued to specialize in Hematology, Oncology and Bone marrow transplantation at the renowned City of Hope National Medical Center and UCLA where he was chief fellow.

    Dr. Bagdasarian was recognized among the top oncologists in the United States by the Scientific Research Council of America from 2007-2010. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at USC. Dr. Bagdasarian is actively involved in cancer research, in which he has been the principle investigator and co-investigator of numerous publications. Dr. Bagdasarian continues to serve the medical community as Oncology consultant for the media, appearing on ABC, CBS and CNN news.

    Source: http://www.lacancernetwork.com/doctors/

  • Arpi Krikorianarpi

    Class of 1989

    Arpi was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Her family escaped the Lebanese Civil war in 1978 and migrated to the U.S. where she started attending Armenian Mesrobian School as a second grader. In 9th grade, Mesrobian's art teacher, Miss Vogner encouraged her to take art classes at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (ACCD) . Arpi spent the next four years attending ACCD's High School program on Saturdays where she built her portfolio and fell in love with creating art. Arpi was a very active student. She played volleyball her high school career and served as Mesrobian's Student Body President her Senior year. She also graduated as her class Salutatorian.

    Arpi was accepted into ACCD's undergraduate program two months after graduating from Mesrobian in 1989 where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration in 1992. She freelanced as an illustrator for several years and then accepted a full time position as a storyboard revisionist on the animated show Angry Beavers at Nickelodeon Animation Studios. At Nickelodeon, she also freelanced for the TV shows, CatDog, Hey Arnold, Dora the Explorer and Oswald the Octopus. Arpi's current venture is her art business where she manufactures merchandise featuring her Armenian themed illustrations. In a short two year span, she has gained an international following and is currently in the development stage of an animated movie called Sosse and the Daredevils of Sassoun of which she's the creator and one of the Executive Producers. Arpi lives in Pasadena with her high school sweetheart husband and two beautiful daughters.

    You can find her products and follow her journey at www.arpikrikorian.com

    Arpi Krikorian Inspires Students at Alma Mater Mesrobian. Asbarez February 18, 2016

  • John Gabriel

    Class of 1996john-gabriel

    For over two decades Gabriel's fascination with the art of illusion has made him a spectacle to watch live on stage and network television. By adding his fresh take on this ancient art, Gabriel's Magic Redefined fuses the old caliber of magic with the new prestige.

    Throughout his progressive career he has put his magic to work, successfully raising over $500,000 for various nonprofit organizations. John's imagination enables him to master illusions that have never been attempted before in the history of magic. His most celebrated illusion is called Watertight in which he risks his life onstage submerged in 2000 pounds of water. Gabriel's destiny in magic is definite as he is driven to continue creating new approaches to the art of magic, theatre and film.

    source: www.johngabrielmagic.com

  • Sona MovsesianAlumni 1

    Class of 2000

    Sona Movsesian from Conan O'Brien Presents: Team Coco returned to her Alma Mater, Armenian Mesrobian School, to discuss her recent visit to Armenia with Conan O’Brien.

    Movsesian was greeted with cheers and applause when she walked into an assembly of Mesrobian High School students. They had the opportunity to ask her questions and share their reflections on the episode.

    “I don’t think anything compares to seeing Ararat for the first time. It’s like a painting, it’s so beautiful,” remarked Movsesian.

    Since its broadcast last week, Conan O’Brien’s visit to Armenia with Movsesian has gone viral. News of the show was covered by international media, trended across social media platforms, recorded 1.3 million television viewers on its first broadcast (doubling the show’s average), and has since reached millions upon millions of people.“Just like you, Sona was a student here,” Principal David Ghoogasian said to students during the assembly. “I always talk about what Mesrobianalumni are like and how proud we are of them. When you leave here, each of you has the potential to do something great too,” he added.“I was and still am very proud to have gone to Mesrobian,” shared Movsesian, who attended Mesrobian school while growing up in the tight-knit Armenian community of Montebello, where she forged a connection with her Armenian heritage.Movsesian discussed working in the entertainment industry and what it was like to be an Armenian in her professional life.“Talking about being Armenian and making sure people knew that’s who I was actually helped me stand out a lot in life. It was something a lot of people knew about me and related about with me,” said Movsesian.As the discussion wrapped up, Movsesian shared that “People have asked me if I subconsciously put it in Conan’s head to go to Armenia and I’d say, ‘No,’ but maybe in a way I actually did.”“Maybe by being vocal about Armenia it didn’t seem like such a farfetched idea to travel there, and it wasn’t.”She added, “We had a budget to go anywhere in the world, and Conan is the one who wanted to go to Armenia and it made a huge difference. I can’t thank him enough for wanting to go.”With all the attention, Movsesian is amused but also a little reluctant with her newfound celebrity.“I don’t know how to respond to this,” she said, describing the feeling of random text messages and friend requests from fans.“It’s all very strange,” she said laughing.
    Source: Mesrobian's Facebook Page