Armenians in Utah and around the world lost a great friend in Jon Huntsman Sr. He was one of the first non-Armenians to reach out to Armenia after the devastating earthquake in 1988 which killed up to 45,000 people and caused 500,000 to become homeless.

Even though he could have very easily donated money to help the rescue efforts, he decided to spend millions of dollars to build a cement factory instead to provide much needed jobs and materials for the survivors to build better and sturdier homes.

His commitment to help the Armenians didn’t stop there. Because he knew Armenia’s survival after the Soviet Union break-up would depend on her population’s knowledge of international business concepts, he sponsored hundreds of college age students from Armenia to come to Logan to attend USU to study economics, agriculture and international trade.