Henry Panian has been an educator and community activist. He started his career at Mid Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii. Then with an MA from the University of California, Berkeley, he taught United States and California history at Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa, California, for thirty-four years. In 1971, the Salgo-Noren Foundation acknowledged him as its outstanding college professor of that year. Panian also participated in the foundation of the Costa Mesa Historical Society and the Newport Mesa Unified School District during 1966. In 1977, he was elected to the Mesa Water District as a director. He served there for twenty-one years, twice president of the board. In 1996, he became president of the Water Advisory Committee of Orange County. In 2010, Mesa Water District honored him with its Lifetime Water Achievement Award. He has been married to his wife, Barbara, since 1953. They have two daughters, a son, and five grandchildren.
