Mr. Vatche Manoukian
2009 Pride of Heritage Honoree
L to R: Mr. Rachid Eletel, Judge James Kaddo, Mr. Jay Leno, Mrs. Barbara Davis, Dr. Ray Irani, Mr. Vatche Manoukian, Mr. Kanan Hamzeh, Dr. Hanna Shammas
Lebanese American Foundation Board of Directors
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Mr Vatche Manoukian is a Lebanese citizen, who finished his education in Cyprus and England. His business interests include property, banking, soft drink bottling, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, renewable energy and the leisure industry.
He is married with four children and has continued his family’s tradition of charitable work throughout the world with a particular emphasis on education, medicine and Armenian causes. An Honorary Citizen of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, he was also awarded the Insignia of Prince of Cilicia in 1985 and the Order of St Gregory the Illuminator in 1996, the highest honour which can be bestowed by the Armenian Church.
He has funded the construction and refurbishment of four schools and a church. His scholarship funds have enabled some 1,700 academically able students who lack financial resources to attend university, in particular in Lebanon, and his post-graduate programmes at Harvard in the United States and Cambridge in the United Kingdom have provided essential skills for tomorrow’s community leaders.
He supports many children’s charities throughout the world and has been a major supporter of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, UNICEF, Education Africa, Action Innocence and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He is a major sponsor and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Opera House in London.
Mr Manoukian is proud of his Lebanese roots and of his long-standing association with the Lebanese American Foundation, and has been delighted to support its works.