FresnoStateNews
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2005
Contact: Shirley Melikian Armbruster
(559) 278-5292 or (559) 593-1815
Fresno State Alum Charlie Keyan Donates $150,000 for Scholarships
A former Fresno State football team athletic manager has donated $150,000 to
California State University, Fresno. Charlie Keyan of Indio, a retired
businessman and farmer who graduated in 1948, has established two endowed
scholarships.
A $100,000 endowment will establish the ~SCharlie Keyan Endowed Scholarship
in Armenian Studies,~T with the income to be used to provide scholarships for
students at Fresno State who enroll in Armenian Studies courses, with
preference for freshmen.
Keyan also provided an endowed scholarship of $50,000 to the Athletics
Department, with the income to be used for scholarships to student-athletes
in the football program.
The donations were made, he said, with a goal of helping young people
complete their college education. He noted that he received help when he was
in college, and now he wants to help students stay in college.
He said he chose to give to Fresno State and in particular to the Armenian
Studies Program because he heard from former classmates and friends how well
the program has been doing under the leadership of director Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian and Barlow Der Mugrdechian.
Keyan indicated that he plans to add funds to the existing scholarships and
establish a separate endowment to benefit students studying agriculture at
Fresno State.
A native of Fresno, Keyan enrolled in Fresno State in 1944, graduating with
a major in history and physical education in 1948.
After graduation he went into business with his brother-in-law in Los
Angeles and later worked the night shift while working as a substitute
teaching during the day. He began purchasing property in the San Fernando
Valley, building multiple housing units on them. He later moved to the
Coachella Valley, near Palm Springs, and farm land. He grew grapes and
shipped and sold his own produce in his own facilities.
Later he began investing in the stock market and was also very successful in
that. He retired in 1988.