(Armenian: Վարազդատ Գազանճեան, March 18, 1879 – October 19, 1974) was an Armenian Americans oral surgeon who pioneered techniques for plastic surgery and is considered to be the founder of the modern practice of plastic surgery. He graduated from Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1905. He served as professor of oral surgery from 1922–1939 and he was the first to hold the title of Professor of plastic surgery at Harvard Medical School. He also co-authored the first concise book on plastic surgery.

Career

Dr. Kazanjian was Professor of Clinical Oral Surgery at Harvard from 1922 to 1941 when he was named Harvard's first Professor of Plastic Surgery. In addition, Dr. Kazanjian was past President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, and the New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He was also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, and the American College of Dentists, and a diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons in London in 1966 and of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow in 1967. He was also an honorary member of the Massachusetts Dental Society, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and of the Academy of Oral Surgery.

Awards and recognition

He was awarded several awards including the Order of St Michael and St George by the King George V of England. In 1951, he was awarded the Honorary Award of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.