Henry Harutunian, Who Built Yale Into a Fencing Powerhouse Over 49 Years, to Receive 2026 U.S. Fencing Foundation Legacy Award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When Howard Daniel walked into a conversational Russian class at Harvard University in 1966, he had no idea the instructor standing at the front of the room would reshape American collegiate fencing.

The instructor was Henry Harutunian, a Soviet-trained fencing coach who had emigrated from the Armenian SSR and was teaching Russian to graduate students. Daniel, a Yale graduate, noticed his teacher’s coaching talents were underemployed. He also knew that Yale’s fencing team was struggling. So he arranged a meeting with Yale’s athletic director, drove Harutunian to New Haven and served as his Russian interpreter.

It was the start of a 49-year coaching career at Yale that would produce five NCAA team championships, at least two Olympic fencers, dozens of All-Americans and a legacy that spans seven university presidencies.

In recognition of that legacy, the U.S. Fencing Foundation will present Henry Harutunian with the 2026 U.S. Fencing Foundation Legacy Award at the Fencing Foundation Fête on May 28, 2026, at The New York Athletic Club. This year’s theme, “Celebrating America’s Collegiate Fencing,” is a fitting tribute to a coach who dedicated his career to the belief that fencing and scholarship go hand in hand.

Harutunian grew up in the Armenian SSR drawn to fencing by “The Three Musketeers.” He earned the title of Eminent Coach of the Republic of Armenia in 1963 and served on the coaching staff of the Soviet national fencing team from 1962 to 1966. After emigrating to the United States, he coached at Brandeis University before arriving at Yale in 1970, where he founded the women’s fencing program in 1974.

What makes his coaching record so remarkable is that Yale, like all Ivy League schools, does not offer athletic scholarships. Under Harutunian, Yale’s women’s team won the AIAW national championship in 1982 and back-to-back NCAA titles in 1984 and 1985. The men captured the NCAA foil championship in 1992 and 1993 and added the NCAA saber title in 1994.

His most celebrated pupil, Sada Jacobson ’06, won back-to-back NCAA women’s saber titles before earning bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics, silver and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and induction into the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame. Peter Devine ’99 competed in foil at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while still a Yale student.

Beyond New Haven, Harutunian joined the U.S. National Team coaching staff in 1977 and served as one of three U.S. Olympic fencing coaches at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. He coached at two Pan American Games and five World University Games and co-authored the original teaching manuals for the USFA Coaches College. He was inducted into the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame in 2009, where Steve Blum ’74 delivered the induction speech, concluding: “Let us welcome into the Hall of Fame the man who knows how to win with scholars instead of scholarships.”

A tribute book compiled after his coaching career, “Fond Memories of Coach,” drew 121 alumni contributions. The themes are consistent: Coach was a second father. His lessons transcended fencing. He taught us more than any other professor.

When asked about his own legacy, Harutunian offered characteristic modesty: “And maybe someone remember me. Maybe. If not, it’s not so important.”

With the 2026 U.S. Fencing Foundation Legacy Award, the fencing community is making sure he is remembered.

The U.S. Fencing Foundation Legacy Award, inaugurated in 2023, recognizes individuals who display definitive character, leadership and vision for the sport of fencing. Past recipients include Bob Dow (2023), Melody Lowman (2024) and Peter Westbrook (2025).