Ara Yervant Tourian, MD of Durham, NC died on 11 September 2025, following a long and gradual decline. Ara was born in Jerusalem, Palestine on 18 May 1933 to refugees and survivors of the Armenian genocide, Yervant Tourian and Sirvart Manoushagian Tourian. His family moved to Beirut, Lebanon in 1948. Ara attended the American University of Beirut (AUB) for college and the first 2 years of medical school, then emigrated to the US with his older brother Kourken in 1956 to complete medical school.

He graduated from the State University of Iowa (SUI), Iowa City, College of Medicine in 1958, where he met the love of his life, Hjordis Anderson, who received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Music from SUI. After a Surgical Internship in Washington, DC, he and Hjordis married in 1959, and he was inducted into the US Army as a Captain. Initial orders would have sent him to South Korea, but changed at the last minute, allowing him to remain stateside at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1961.

Following his military service, the couple moved to New York City for Ara’s Residency in Neurology at NYU/Bellevue Hospital. Daughter Karen was born while they were in New York. The family moved to Denver, Colorado, where he completed a research post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado and added Gregory and Mark to the family. He gained a faculty position at Duke University in the Neurology Division of the Department of Internal Medicine, where he spent his entire career.

At Duke, Ara initially pursued research into the cellular basis of Phenylketonuria (PKU) and Huntington’s Chorea. While in a research role, he was able to engage in a year-long sabbatical in Cambridge, England, at the University. Later in his career, he moved into a more clinical role, treating complex patients with chronic pain. He retired as an Emeritus Professor in 1998.

Upon retirement he moved into new areas of interest, joining Hjordis’ lifelong pursuits in art by becoming accomplished in drawing and pastel painting. He continued to teach for many years at Duke’s Lifelong Learning program, pursuing his own interests in the connections between music, art, and the brain, as well as an in-depth exploration of his hero, Leonardo da Vinci. He kept his own brain active with a multi-year research project on the brain and creative arts. Ara was obsessed with travel, which he and Hjordis indulged in after retirement, and they went most summers to Mt. Desert Island in Maine, often joined with Greg’s family. He loved to cook and eat good food and would not hesitate to show you how to pour the perfect glass of champagne.

He kept physically active playing tennis with friends and neighbors during his working years, and in his retirement walking daily in Duke Forest. Although he never played an instrument, he had a lifelong appreciation of classical music. He and Hjordis had recently relocated to Raleigh to live in a continuing care community at The Cardinal at North Hills, close to son Greg and wife Maura.

Ara was preceded in death by his siblings Astrid Bagdoian, Kourken Tourian, Vahe Tourian, and his twin sister Arpee Jones. He is survived by wife Hjordis, children Karen (Rolf Windh), Gregory (Maura Doran Tourian), Mark (Yoshiko Kanno Tourian), and grandchildren Halle, Nina, and Joshua, as well as several cousins.

A memorial service will be held at a future date.

Memorial contributions may be made to: The Fund for Armenian Relief https://www.farusa.org/ or The Armenia Tree Project https:// www.armeniatree.org/.