Emeritus Faculty Spotlight: Richard Aaronian

By NICK BAKER, V MURDAYA,  LILY RAMPE, and FORREST ZENG

On the opaque surface of the Exeter Wastewater Treatment Plant (EWTP), deep ripples tangle and bounce off each other, clashing and separating around the spinning fins of a stout brown duck with a stiff black tail. Black fur hoods over its back neck and head. Creamy white feathers wrap around the duck’s cheeks, the brightest spot among the green water except its brilliant azure beak. 

A few hundred feet away, through the fence beside the wastewater lake, gripping tightly a set of binoculars, watches an old man. He smiles and scribbles onto his yellow notebook. He sketches the duck and writes its name below: “Ruddy Duck.” It’s the fifth one he’s sketched today. 

To the rest of the world, his quaint post is a pile of leaves and trees next to the wastewater plant. To the Academy’s Emeritus Instructor in Biology Richard S. Aaronian ’76, ’78, ’97 (Hon.); P ‘94, P’ 97, it’s everything.

Richard Aaronian was born into an Armenian speaking family in Medford, Massachusetts. English was not his first language, and he had spoken Armenian when going to school. While he had begun pursuing his interest in biology in Medford High School, being inspired by his high school teacher, Mr. John Bradley, his love for the subject stemmed from his childhood. Aaronian said, “My love for the subject actually began earlier, in the neighborhood woods and pond as well as on my cousins’ farm planting and picking vegetables with them in the summer.”

In college, Aaronian graduated with a degree in zoology, while also studying ornithology and marine biology. However, the moment that jump started his career was when he was working on his master’s degree at UNH. There was an index card on the biology department door that piqued his curiosity.  It was a job advertisement for part-time biology teachers in the academy. Despite having little teaching experience apart, and never having lived in a dormitory, he applied. Aaronian said,“That card changed my life and led to a 49-year career at Exeter.” Aaronian continued, “The only thing I knew about dorm life was being an RA in my college dorm.” To his surprise, he landed the job. 

When Aaronian first came to Exeter, he was scared. Aaronian said, “I felt really unsure. But, fortunately, there were some people in the department who really helped me out, and I visited classes. I visited classes a lot because I didn’t have any idea of what Harkness was about or how it worked in a biology classroom. So I would say the first year was pretty scary for me, but it got better.”

In addition to being a popular teacher, Aaronian served as a dorm head and coached the boys junior varsity hockey team. “I remember one year I was in the locker room after working out and in walked the Dean of Students and the Dean of Faculty at the same time. All I know is, when I walked out of there, I had agreed to become a dorm head in Amen Hall and coach the JV boys hockey team.” Aaronian said. 

“I was fairly young. I’d only been here for four years, so it was a lot,” Aaronian continued. “But so I became dorm head and Amen was in that series of transitions because it was becoming a women’s dorm. That was most of my dorm experience in Amen and then in Bancroft.” 

Emeritus Instructor in Science Lewis Hitzrot explained, “Faculty members at boarding schools are expected to contribute in three areas: the classroom, the dormitory, and extracurricular activities. Rich Aaronian is the rare teacher who is remembered fondly for his excellent work in all of those areas.”

Hitzrot continued, “The other part of his impact is that he really brought his joy of ornithology and it became part of the science department. Without him, that whole area of science would not have existed at Exeter. That was a major contribution. He was also the Chair of the Science Department for a while, and that, of course, has a legacy as well.”

Aaronian taught, coached, and advised at Exeter for 49 years, enjoying the many ways he got to know his students. Aaronian said, “We worked with them in class, coached for 26 years, along with baseball after hockey and then the dorm. The dorm is really important. I remember one time getting a call that this student’s father died. I needed to go get him and bring him down. I mean those are pretty important things. I just think the relationships, the associations, students, and colleagues, just kept me here.”

Instructor in Science Brad Robinson, a former colleague of Aaronian’s, shared about the sense of humor Aaronian brought to the science department. Robinson said, “Mr. Aaronian loves to tease people in a kind way. He thoroughly enjoys ribbing me about my spaciness and general disorganization. It is all in fun, and I play up these characteristics in myself for his benefit. I love seeing him become mystified and dumbfounded at physics teachers in general.”

Robinson continued, “Another example of this is when Mr. Matlack taught for a year at Exeter in 1984 to fill in for Mr. Aaronian’s year-long sabbatical.  Mr. Matlack took Mr. Aaronian’s ornithology class that year, and Mr. Aaronian loved to claim that 30 years later he was still trying to repair the damage that Matlack did during that year.”

Symbolizing the legacy of Aaronian is the unmissable whale skeleton displayed in the atrium of the Phelps Science Center. “[Finding the whale] was quite an operation that [he, Mr. Matlack, and Mr. Chisholm] got kids to come to…. It’s one of the things that just distinguishes him in doing something really out of the box,” said Hitzrot. This sense of creative thinking is something that many former colleagues remember fondly.

It is clear that Aaronian has left a long-lasting impact in every aspect of Exeter’s life that he was involved in, and beyond. 

Instructor in Science Townley Chisholm recalled a memory with Aaronian. “He and I saw a pigeon get attacked and wounded by a cooper’s hawk. We caught the pigeon and tethered it to the science building so that we could film the hawk when it returned to claim its meal.” The hawk never returned, but Aaronian’s instinct to see the real world as a possible lesson was evident. 

Robinson commented on Aaronian’s values and demeanor. “He has always been a calm and reasoned voice in our meetings, always reminding us to put the needs of students first. He has always been respectful to others when they disagree and he clearly has always had the best interest of the school in mind when making any decisions,” Robinson said. 

Aaronian’s impact is very personal to Instructor in Science Elizabeth Stevens. “When my son was here, he took Ornithology from Mr. Aaronian and he was so excited about it, he decided to become an ornithologist and is now working on his PhD in Ornithology. He completely changed the direction of my son’s life,” said Stevens.

Instructor in Science Anne Rankin, a mentee of Aaronian’s when she was a new faculty member, recalls Aaronian’s ability to connect with students as being an exemplary characteristic: “[he always remembered that] there’s a story behind each person, and that how kids feel emotionally in a classroom is super important to how they learn. He took the time to get to know kids as people.”

Aaronian is remembered as being selfless to the core. “When a volunteer was needed for something for faculty, he was always one to step up, and just go beyond what was expected of him. I think he was a great example for other faculty,” Stevens, who was also Aaronian’s mentee, shared. 

This sentiment was reflected by Chisholm: “Mr. Aaronian was always willing to do more, for example when he moved into Williams House while I took a year-long sabbatical so that I could return to Williams House when I came back.”

Robinson added, “As long as I have known him, he has always been an incredibly dedicated teacher — he has had long and meaningful relationships with students going way back to the 70’s and he keeps up with those connections. He remembers names and stories,  and students seem to know how much he cares about them. He created the ornithology program at Exeter which has flourished over the decades, and he has taught both students and colleagues about birds for his whole career. His willingness to take adults out birding early in the morning has resulted in many faculty at Exeter becoming birders themselves.” 

“He is passionate about baseball and hockey and has coached those sports with a great attitude that has encompassed both a desire to win, but also a good perspective about sportsmanship and losing graciously,” Robinson continued. “He is someone who really gets the ‘Goodness’ part of ‘Knowledge and Goodness.’” 

Although he retired in 2020, he has remained a presence in the biology department and in the Exeter community more generally. “He [still] comes on most ornithology field trips and some of the ecology field trips, and he just makes these trips better,” said Instructor in Science Mr. Matlack. “You go to the Exeter Andover football game, he’s there … he was at the playoff game last Wednesday,” Mr. Matlack added.

His generosity and dedication continues to extend outside of solely the Exeter community. “Right now [Mr. and Mrs. Aaronian] are involved in housing refugees – mostly Afghan refugees – in Manchester, but that’s a whole big operation of trying to find houses or apartments for these refugees while easing their transition often from internment camps,” shared Hitzrot.

Today, when students open up the Academy’s faculty directory on myExeter, the first name they see is Aaronian’s, on account of his last name. It’s just a small example of his continuing and present impact on the Academy, even after retirement. 

For Exonians today, Aaronian offered a concluding message. “Pay attention to what life brings you,” he concluded. “You never know what track you’ll be on. So pay attention.”