The Daghlian Siblings: All Three PhD Students at Caltech
Diane Krieger
Three siblings. All recent Caltech alumni. All current doctoral students.
Yes, you read that right.
In the fall, Patill Daghlian (BS ’24) begins her first year in the physics PhD program. Intrigued by experimental particle physics, she’ll pursue the quest for stable light dark matter in David Hitlin’s lab and the upcoming Light Dark Matter eXperiment.
Her brother, Saren (BS ’24), begins his electrical engineering PhD under astronomy professor Gregg Hallinan, whose group is building out the massive DSA-2000 radio telescope array in the Nevada desert as a world-leading radio survey instrument.
Meanwhile, George (BS ’20) is entering year-four in the Institute’s joint MD/PhD program with UCLA. He’s part of Mikhail Shapiro’s bioengineering research group, developing novel imaging paradigms for the detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of brain tumors.
How did these siblings achieve the double-degree Caltech trifecta? With talent, exceptional parenting and mentorships, faith, and the generosity of Caltech scholarship donors.
“My parents had humble beginnings,” explains George, the oldest sibling. “They’re incredibly hard-working, and they set an amazing example for all of us.”
The Daghlians are the children of Armenian immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. Their father, Armen, arrived in 1989 with $100 in his pocket. He found work doing auto collision repair and eventually opened a family-owned body shop with his father and brother.
Back in Aleppo, Armen had aspired to be an aerospace engineer, but he was forced to leave school after sixth grade and work with his father to help provide for the family. His wife, Datevig, took career college classes in America, and shelved dreams of studying astronomy to help with accounting in the body shop.
Deprived of higher education themselves, both parents pulled out all the stops to give their children a top-tier STEM foundation. Beginning in elementary school, the Daghlians were rigorously homeschooled and simultaneously enrolled in high-caliber online courses. Through their high school years, the siblings interned in the Young-Kwon Hong Lab at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, which specializes in the lymphatic system and its role in various disease processes.
George uses words like “sacrifice” and “devotion” to describe his parents’ unstinting effort, driving them back and forth to lab and supporting their extracurricular activities and community outreach events.
But without scholarships, Caltech would have been financially very difficult for the Daghlians. Close in age, their time in college overlapped. Saren and Patill, who had been homeschooled together, both entered in 2020.
Scholarships thankfully covered the lion’s share of their triple tuition tab. “Caltech is very, very supportive. It’s been a huge help,” says Saren, the youngest sibling.
Two of the three Daghlians worked as TAs through college, but none of them felt any pressure to take part-time jobs that wouldn’t advance their personal goals.
“I’m incredibly grateful for that. It allowed us to focus on academics and our research,” says George, whose financial support as an undergraduate included the Carnation Merit Scholarship.
Patill was supported by the Don Alden Crewell Scholarship, the Dr. Phillip A. Patten and Dr. Zhihong Jane Yang Annual Scholarship, the Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Scholarship, and the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship.
Saren also received scholarships, including the Boeing Scholarship, the Eugene N. Parker and Niesje M. Parker Annual Scholarship, and the Paul K. Richter and Evalyn E. Cook Richter Undergraduate Scholarship.
Year after year, the Daghlians have enjoyed meeting their benefactors.
“Caltech does a great job connecting students with donors and generating those faculty-student-alumni relationships,” Saren says. “Our goal is to one day be able to also empower other students to pursue their dreams just like we’ve been supported.”
The Institute continues to grow its pool of scholarships through the Initiative for Caltech Students. The $250 million fundraising campaign aims to raise $100 million for new undergraduate scholarships, along with support for graduate fellowships, career advising, health and wellness, and the co-curricular experience.
As graduate students, the Daghlians live at home and commute to campus. “It’s so nice being close to family,” George says. “After a long day, I can de-stress, go on a walk with my parents and my siblings, enjoy a movie together.”
Or play a sonata.
In addition to a first-rate STEM education, Armen and Datevig Daghlian gave their progeny the gift of music.
All three siblings are skilled instrumentalists, having started piano lessons at an early age. Patill later switched to flute, and Saren, to violin, and they formed the Daghlian Trio.
“There’s an intimacy to playing chamber music in any ensemble, but that’s especially true with siblings,” Saren says. “We have a certain chemistry—a really close musical relationship with one another. It’s difficult to describe in words.”
In their teens, the Daghlians gave many public performances at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. They used music to explore their Armenian heritage, organize benefit concerts to support struggling communities in the Middle East, and serve their Pasadena church community.
Through college, they were active in Caltech’s Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music programs.
Saren, in particular, prioritized music. Last year, Caltech Chamber Music coach Robert Ward invited him to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in a Viennese palace where Beethoven had personally entertained his patron, Prince Lobkowitz. Saren later reprised his Beethoven concerto in Ramo Auditorium with the Caltech Symphony Orchestra after winning the 2023 Concerto Competition.
In addition to the standard chamber repertoire, the Daghlian Trio specializes in arrangements of traditional Armenian music with the guidance of their chamber coach, Vatché Mankerian. Patill particularly loves it when someone from the audience tells her, “I recognize that tune—my grandparents used to sing that to me.”
Staying close to home meant the Daghlians remained connected to Pasadena’s tight-knit Armenian community—including a large extended family living within a 20-minute drive. They’ve mentored youngsters in the local community, leading heart dissections for elementary school students and judging science fair competitions for middle schoolers.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” George says. “We’re students at Caltech; we’re involved in the world of academia. But we’re able to step outside that, go back to our Armenian roots, be close to our church, and give back to our community.”
As outstanding students, the Daghlians had many other options for post-graduate education, yet all three chose to stay at Caltech.
But why? Their answers revolve around the words “mentorship” and “community.”
George talks about Caltech microbiology professor Sarkis Mazmanian, among countless other faculty, who guided him through his undergraduate and early graduate journey. Now contemplating a career in neurosurgery, the future physician-scientist says he aspires to emulate graduate advisor and mentor Mikhail Shapiro to tackle “exciting questions from a creative, interdisciplinary lens.”
Patill points to an “invaluable collaborative community.” She envisions an academic future for herself with a focus on teaching and empowering more women to pursue physics. “Caltech is a true incubator for fascinating conversations, and those everyday interactions often bring fresh perspectives to my research and outlook on life,” she says.
Saren appreciates being part of a small, eclectic community of world-class researchers. “I’ve met people from so many different backgrounds coming together here toward the same goal: progress in science and engineering. It has truly been inspirational,” says the youngest Daghlian.
He anticipates a future in the radio instrumentation startup space, but Saren is also considering a future in postdoctoral academia. His role model: research mentor and radio astronomy pioneer Sander Weinreb.
George sums things up for the three siblings: “I love the community at Caltech. I love how tight knit it is. How collegial it is, with individuals from such diverse fields teaching each other and working together to transform and advance our understanding of the world. There is just something truly unique about Caltech. I thank God for being here.”
