Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian is the publisher of The California Courier, a weekly newspaper based in Glendale, California. His editorials dealing with political analysis on international affairs are reprinted in scores of U.S. and overseas publications.

He is the Founder and President of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition of the five largest Armenian-American charitable and religious organizations. The U.A.F. has supplied $700 million of humanitarian assistance to Armenia on board 161 airlifts and 2,200 sea containers since the 1988 earthquake.

As the former Senior Vice President of Kirk Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation, he oversaw the implementation of $242 million of infrastructure-related projects in Armenia, including the construction of 3,674 apartments, bridges, tunnels, highways, and city streets, and the renovation of 26 schools and 34 cultural institutions, as well as providing $20 million of loans to small and medium-size businesses.

He was employed by Procter & Gamble in Geneva, Switzerland, as an international marketing executive from 1978 to 1982.

He served for 10 years as a non-governmental delegate on human rights at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He played a leading role in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the UN Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1985.

He has a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

His most recent book, “The Armenian Genocide: The World Speaks Out, 1915-2005, Documents & Declarations,” was published in April, 2005. The Arabic translation of his book was published in Lebanon and Egypt. French, Spanish, Russian, Armenian, and Turkish translations are pending.