Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Staff Report
The Leon S. Peters Foundation has been a key supporter of the Armenian Studies Program for many years, and for the past eight years in particular. Their annual support has allowed the Program to award student scholarships, to organize a Lecture Series, featuring presentations and films, and to provide student support for a study program to Armenia.
This year the Armenian Studies Program was going to recognize the Leon S. Peters Foundation at the Program’s 32nd Annual Banquet, which had been scheduled for March 22, but which was postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Armenian Studies Program expresses its appreciation to the Foundation Board and its current President, Mr. Kenneth Peters. The late founder of the Foundation, Mr. Leon S. Peters and his late wife Alice Peters were supporters of the Program
Leon S. Peters was born in Fowler, California, and graduated from Fowler High School as valedictorian. He worked daily on his father’s ranch, helped raise his siblings and also did custom tractor work in what little spare time he had. Leon’s industrious and enterprising nature soon caught the attention of the manager of Valley Foundry and Machine Works. He was offered a job, worked his way up to manager and eventually purchased the company. Valley Foundry became a world recognized supplier of equipment to the agricultural industry.
Leon and Alice Peters have a long connection to Fresno State, with the Leon S. Peters Business Building being named for him, honoring the spirit of the man who served on the University President’s Advisory Board, the Fresno State Foundation Board of Governors, and the University’s Agricultural Board. For his many contributions to Fresno State, Leon S. Peters was posthumously awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by The California State University in 1997.
The Armenian Studies Program honors the memory of Leon S. and Alice Peters.