Dr. Sanjar G. Umarov was born on April 7, 1956, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the third of five children. From an early age, his parents instilled in him a great respect for the power of education and a deep love for his country.

A devoted and beloved husband and father, Dr. Umarov is married to Dr. Indira Niyazova, with whom he has five children: Gulambek, Arslanbek, Sardorbek, Zarina, and Emina. Dr. Umarov is equally devoted to improving his native land, Uzbekistan, and his adopted home, the United States.

A brilliant scholar with several degrees, including a doctorate in solar energy, Dr. Umarov established Uzbekistan’s first business school in 1989, the International Business School, out of a desire to improve education there.

As the Cold War came to a close, Dr. Umarov saw a need for better communication among the Uzbek people and an opportunity to expand the local economy, so he was directly involved in bringing the first cellular phone provider to the area. This venture caught the attention of U.S. investors who subsequently supported several other industries in Uzbekistan as well as in Central Asia as a whole.

The Umarov family moved to the United States in 1995 to further educational opportunities for their children and quickly came to love the country. At the request of the U.S. Department of Defense, Dr. Umarov helped procure jet fuel to Afghanistan in support of American troops following the tragedies of September 11.

However, Dr. Umarov never forgot his home of Uzbekistan and its people. In 2005, he founded Sunshine Coalition, an association of civil groups and intellectuals, which sought to open a dialogue with the Government of Uzbekistan concerning economic reforms that could dramatically improve the quality of life of Uzbek citizens. Advocating free trade and private ownership of the agricultural industry, Sunshine Coalition emerged in March 2005 as a pro-democracy organization advocating economic reforms. Later that same year, Dr. Umarov was arrested in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Dr. Umarov was held in Prison Camp Kizil-Tepa, Uzbekistan for four years. Thanks to Diplomatic Engagement, Dr. Umarov was released on November 7, 2009 and returned home to his family in Germantown, Tennessee two weeks later on Saturday, November 21.