Vernon Ahmadjian

Who was Vernon Ahmadjian?

Vernon Ahmadjian was a distinguished professor at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.—He specialized in the symbiosis of lichens, and wrote several books and numerous publications on the subject.

After graduating with his BA in 1952 from Clark University, Ahmadjian served for two years in the United States Army in the Combat Medical Corps during the Korean War. Upon his return to civilian life, Ahmadjian continued his studies at Clark, receiving his MA in 1956, and then went on to achieve his PhD from Harvard University in 1960.

Owing to his lichen field work in the 1960s at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, the National Science Foundation awarded him with the Antarctic Medal in 1967, and gave a peak in the Queen Alexandria Range of the Transantarctic Mountains the name of “Ahmadjian Peak”.

In 1996, Ahmadjian was honored by the International Association for Lichenology with an Acharius Medal for outstanding research in the field of lichenology.