Director of the American University of Armenia's (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment, a position he has held since 2013. In 2014, he established and, in parallel to the AUA Acopian Center, currently leads the AUA Center for Responsible Mining. He also teaches graduate and undergraduate environmental courses at AUA. Prior to the University, Mr. Amirkhanian was Senior Vice President of Research at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a nonprofit research and strategy organization, founded by Michael Porter. He has consulted with the World Bank, UNDP, and the Brookings Institution on energy efficiency, as well as economic and urban growth issues. Mr. Amirkhanian holds a Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning.