About

Dr. Harutyunyan is the Director of Research at the Sunwater Institute, a new think tank in the Washington DC area.  She is Principal Investigator leading several research initiatives funded by organizations such as National Science Foundation and Council for Innovation Promotion. She is also an Edison Innovation Law and Policy Fellow at George Mason University, Scalia Law School.

Prior to settling in Washinton DC, she lived and worked in five different countries, holding research positions across academic institutions, think tanks, and international development organizations. She is fluent in several languages and has studied the impact of cultural differences on economic development and political institutions. 

Dr. Harutyunyan holds a BA, MA, and a PhD in Economics and has published widely in economics and multidisciplinary scientific journals, in addition to op-eds, book chapters, and flagship policy reports authored for various policy organizations. She was awarded the Bergson Prize for the best-published paper by the Association for Comparative Economic Studies.

I facilitate connections between academia and policymakers to bring data-based evidence to policy debates. In the above photo, I am doing just that with the Council for Innovation Promotion at a briefing organized for policymakers, journalists, and industry leaders at the National Press Club in Washington DC.

Entrepreneur-Scholar

  • who discovers opportunities, and who provides the vision and energy needed to galvanize teams to seize the opportunity! who serves as a fearless catalyst for change and improvement. 
  • who contemplates reality as it is… without any illusions… who is drawn to fundamental truths and in-depth explanations, who helps to develop an understanding of complex phenomena, and who tries to teach and mentor.

Entrepreneur-Scholar is not just about doing; it is doing combined with in-depth reflection; it is about the genuine attempt to do the right things. 

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I constantly engage in activities that push the limits of mind, body, and spirit. The attached photo pictures my skis on the slopes of the Biblical Mount Ararat – the sacred mountain of my ancestral homeland.

I love island hopping and especially visiting the serene beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, like the one in my background, which is accessible only through hours of hiking through the mountains or sailing.