 Der-Yeghiayan was born in Aleppo, Syria to Armenian parents and raised in Beirut, Lebanon.He immigrated to the United States at age 19.He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, in 1975, and his Juris Doctor from the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now known as the University of New Hampshire School of Law) in Concord, New Hampshire in 1978.