January 6, 2023

FRESNO – The Tabibian Family and the Knights of Vartan Inc. are proud to announce the new partnership and the launch of the “Tabibian Family Scholarships”. These new scholarships will be available from 2023 September for the students of the science and technology faculties at the Yerevan State University and the National Polytechnic University of Armenia.

 
Successful and established Dr. Tabibian from Burbank CA has a busy professional life. One of his lifetime goals was to establish a scholarship for academically high- achieving students who may need financial assistance. Originally from Lebanon, Dr. Tabibian saw the need for higher education. Wishing to help students and at the same time help out his homeland Armenia, it seemed a natural combination to establish this scholarship.

Dr. Tabibian’s goal was not only to establish a way for students to gain higher academic success in the fields of technology and science but to help Armenia in these areas of study.
Prior to moving to Burbank, Dr. Tabibian, while living in Visalia CA, became a member of Yeprad lodge of the Knights of Vartan and there saw the work that the Knights of Vartan was already doing in Armenia.
Since the 1990s, the Knights of Vartan Inc. partnered with the two universities by providing scholarships to students who were elected by the universities based on their education and financial needs. Over 320 students benefited through these years.
The initial contribution for the Endowment Fund of the Tabibian Family Scholarship is 200,000 USD. Annually the yielded funds will be awarded as scholarships to students at the Science or Technology faculties of these two universities in
Armenia. During the following five years the contribution to the endowment fund will continue, thus the scholarship funds will increase every year.
Donor preference is to grant students who are aiming to continue living and working in Armenia and have higher academic grades.
This month Grand Commander Hunan Arshakian appointed the Knights of Vartan’s Tabibian Family scholarship committee to lead the final selection of students and coordination of the project. The announcement, application collection and first screening will be handled by the universities and the final selection will be executed by the KV Tabibian committee. The process will be started around spring in 2023 to be ready to grant the scholarships by September 2023 for the new academic year.
 
Dr. Tabibian believes that strong education in science and technology are especially important now, to recreate a strong economy, provide new jobs and develop the country of Armenia.