Sam Simonian Succeeds Berge Setrakian as AGBU President

Following a tenure of 22 years as President of the Armenian General Benevolent Union with 47 years as Central Board member, Berge Setrakian will retire this fall from his position in accordance with the age limit requirements of the bylaws of AGBU.

The AGBU Central Board, with the approval of the AGBU Council of Trustees, on February 24 unanimously recommended the nomination of Sam Simonian as his successor and the organization’s eighth president. Simonian will be formally elected at AGBU’s 93^rd General Assembly to be held in New York City on October 12, 2024 and Setrakian shall join the Council of Trustees.

Simonian is currently a member of the AGBU Council of Trustees following his service on the Central Board from 2000 to 2019. His active involvement with AGBU throughout his life parallels his numerous accomplishments as a business entrepreneur, engineering professional and philanthropist. Both he and his wife Sylva are graduates of AGBU schools in Lebanon. They founded the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Armenia—a breakthrough in afterschool education that allows students to take charge of their own learning in the tech and design space, thereby raising their competitiveness quotient in the global economy. Since launching the flagship TUMO Center, the brand has reached the far corners of Armenia and expanded to multiple cities around the world.

In 1989, Sam Simonian became a co-founder of Inet Technologies, a telecommunications company specializing in Network Management and Business Operational Solutions. In 1994, he was selected Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. magazine, Ernst & Young, and Merrill Lynch. He also received the distinguished Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May 2000 and was the recipient of Armenia’s Anania Shirakatsi Medal for his considerable contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity, services to the Motherland, as well as contributing greatly to the friendship between the Republic of Armenia and foreign states. Simonian was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and resides in Dallas, Texas.