By a presidential decree, career diplomat Grigor Hovhannisyan has been appointed Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States.
Tigran Sargsyan has been relieved of his duties as Armenia’s ambassador to the U.S. and will serve as chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission as Armenia assumes the rotating chairmanship of the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union on February 1.
Prior to his Washington appointment, Grigor Hovhannisyan has served as Armenia’s ambassador to Mexico, Costa Rico, and as the country’s Consul General in Los Angeles.
Hovhannisyan was born in Yerevan in 1971. After completing his studies at the Yerevan State University, Department of Oriental Studies specializing in Arab Studies in 1992, he moved on to study Middle East Politics at the Haigazian University in Lebanon in 1992-1993 and received his MA from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in 2000-2001.
Before a career in the diplomatic service of the Republic of Armenia, Grigor Hovhannisyan held a number of positions in UN programs and specialized agencies, working in Africa and the Middle East.
1994-1996: Coordinator of the “Shelter” program, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Yerevan Office.
1996-1998: Assistant to the Special Coordinator, UN Special Mission, African Great Lakes region.
1998-2000 Head of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Brazzaville (Republic of Congo) Offices, UN Secretariat Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
2001-2003: UNESCO Team Leader and emergency Planner, Middle East Peace Process in Jerusalem.
2002-2003: UN Field Coordinator in Palestinian territories, West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Ramallah and Gaza City)
2004: Senior Advisor to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, UN Assistance Mission to Iraq.
2005-2008: Visiting lecturer at Yerervan State University, Faculty of Oriental Studies.
August–October of 2006: Field Coordinator, UN Emergency Mission, Saida, Lebanon.
2006-2009: Executive Director of the “Shushi Revival Fund”, Armenia.
