Manoug Manougian

Manoug Manougian
Born Manoug Manougian
1936
Jerusalem
Residence United States
Fields
Institutions
Alma mater
Known for

Manoug Manougian is an Armenian scientist, professor, and considered the father of the Lebanese space program.

Personal Life and Education

Manougian grew up in Jerusalem and was educated at St. George's School, Jerusalem. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Texas.

Career

Manougian married in 1960 and went to Lebanon to become a teacher at Haigazian College.

Lebanese Space Program

He founded the Haigazian College Rocket Society in November 1960. With a very limited budget, the society launched a series of rockets to increasing altitudes. It received funding from the Lebanese government and became the Lebanese Rocket Society. He and his students finally launched a suborbital rocket in 1963. The Cedar IV rocket, launched on Lebanese independence day, 21 November 1963 from Dbayeh north of Beirut, reached 90 miles (140 km) and was featured on Lebanese stamps.

Teaching

He returned to the United States in 1966. Manougian completed a masters degree and doctorate at the University of Texas and continued his academic career in the Department of Mathematics at the University of South Florida. He is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of South Florida. He is also acting as an adviser for the University's student Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry.

Views and Politics

As a member of the Armenian diaspora, he has been known to write editorials advocating awareness about the Armenian Genocide. He is also a co-author and associate producer of a 4 hour documentary called "The Genocide Factor: The Human Tragedy," that aired on PBS. In addition, he vehemently believes that rocketry and science should be pursued for solely peaceful means. Consequentially, he turned down multiple lucrative offers during his time in the Lebanese Rocket Society rather than let his work be used for military purposes.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.