Washington, DC. Career diplomat Grigor Hovhannisyan, Armenia’s newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States delivered his credentials to President Obama on Thursday, January 28, 2016.
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, Boston, MA in 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.
2009 to 2014 he was the Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles. Scholar, political tactician, seasoned strategic communicator, Fletcher Graduate, and former United Nations employee in foreign lands like Lebanon, Israel, and the African Congo will assume his post on February 1.
