Outstanding Dental Service Award

Charles A. Hajinian, D.D.S., Dent ’79
Oconomowoc, Wis.

While he is semi-retired from private practice, Charles Hajinian, D.D.S, continues to work hard living out the Marquette value of service. Through stand-up comedy, Chuck raises funds for dental facilities in orphanages that he has visited in Armenia.

Chuck was born in Milwaukee to first-generation Armenian American parents; his grandmother was orphaned during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. “If someone had not helped her, I would not be here,” he says. During his multiple trips to Armenia, “the visits to the orphanages always tore my heart,” Chuck explains. These children live in crowded conditions and many have significant disabilities.

Chuck helped start the Wisconsin Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) chapter in 2012, the Naples, Florida SOAR chapter in 2019 and serves on their board of directors. He also began holding annual fundraisers centered around his stand-up comedy. “I entertain while people write checks,” he says. “Sometimes they wave their check books to get me to stop with the jokes! Every dollar we raise goes to the care of these children and projects for their benefit.”

Back in the U.S., Chuck collaborates with fellow dentists to provide dental care for nursing home residents at seven retirement and nursing home communities, which he calls “a neglected population.”

His deep faith motivates his service; he feels a responsibility to “fully utilize the gifts which He has bestowed on us.”

"I appreciate Marquette for shaping my moral compass and keeping me mission-minded,” Chuck says. “From my participation in Midnight Mass on Saturday nights to working with Campus Ministry. And for taking the potential talents and helping me find the tools to be a productive dentist for the community and for my family."

Fun Facts:

Chuck is a self-taught Impressionist painter who has had multiple solo exhibitions and a museum show. “I took up painting to show the world the beauty before us,” he explains. He is also the author of Tall Short Stories from the Mind of Garbo, a book of short stories that won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers Silver Finalist award for fiction/anthology. You can find clips of some of his comedy on YouTube by searching “Garbo Hajinian Armenian Comedy”.

Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.

Three people come to mind quickly: French Impressionist Claude Monet, comedian Don Rickles, and Armenian American novelist William Saroyan.