Armenian Educational Foundation

For the Armenian Educational Foundation, the past half-century has been marked by a special commitment to Armenian students and schools in need. The great strides it has made in these areas can best be seen through the organization's many noteworthy projects and activities. The following is a sampling of its extraordinary achievements:

In 1959, a grant of $50,000 from benefactress Sophia Hagopian to the AEF established the Levon and Sophia Hagopian School in Athens, Greece. The construction of the school was completed in 1962.

In 1960, in response to an appeal from the Armenian Student's Association at the University of California, Berkeley, the AEF allocated a total of $50,000 for the teaching of an Armenian studies program over five years.

In 1962, the AEF, with the assistance of Sophia Hagopian, raised $120,000 to build the Levon and Sophia Hagopian College in the Bourj Hammoud suburb of Beirut, Lebannon.

In 1965, the AEF played a key role in the building of the first Armenian day school in the United States: the Armenian Mesrobian School in Pico Rivera, California. More than $400,000 was raised for this project from donations from individual members and fund-raising efforts.

In 1986, the AEF established the Chair of Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles. This endowment was made possible through donations totaling $500,000 from AEF members and friends.

In 1990, the AEF provided $140,000 for the construction of a kindergarten and elementary school in Krashen, a quake-stricken village of the Republic of Armenia. This project was carried out in cooperation with the Armenian Relief Society, Western USA.