Visiting Associate Professor of Space Economics
School of Business
Department of Finance, Economics, and Accounting
PhD in Financial Economics, University of Cambridge, UK
MPhil, University of Cambridge, UK
Masters, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
BA, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Dr. Armen V. Papazian joined the American University in Dubai in 2025 as Visiting Associate Professor of Space Economics at the Business School. Alongside his academic responsibilities, Dr. Papazian is an active consultant and trainer for corporations, central banks, banks, and governments around the world.
Dr. Papazian has more than 20 years' experience in sustainable finance, capital markets, and analytics, bridging academia and industry. A Doctor of Financial Economics from Cambridge University, Cambridge Judge Business School, King’s College Cambridge, he combines extensive industry experience with financial institutions and markets, with in-depth research into both the theoretical and practical aspects of modern sustainable finance.
He is the author of three books published by Palgrave Macmillan, Financing the Race to Space, The Space Value of Money, and Hardwiring Sustainability into Financial Mathematics. Dr. Papazian has also contributed extensively to public discourse on sustainability in economics and finance, including engagements with Bank of England, and Cambridge University Judge Business School.
Following years of technical experience and research, Dr. Papazian co-founded the Space Value Foundation, UK, a not-for-profit advocacy for the hardwiring of responsibility into financial economics by designing, measuring, valuing, and executing sustainable investments.
He is a former CEO of Value Xd Ltd, one of top 33 UK tech startups in 2019 (Tech Nation), a former Executive Director of UBS AG, and a former Managing Director of Innovation and Development at Nasdaq Dubai (DIFX), where he led the launch of the Middle East’s first Structured Products platform with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch (Reuters, Euromoney). At Nasdaq Dubai, he has also led the creation of the region’s first tradeable fixed income indices with HSBC (Nasdaq Dubai), as well as the first fungible dual listing with a US exchange in the region (Nasdaq Dubai).
Dr. Papazian is a former Lecturer in Finance, a former Honorary Fellow & Research Associate of the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and the author of numerous academic and professional publications.
His innovative financial value model, Space Value Optimisation, was a finalist in the Finance for the Future Awards in 2016 (CJBS). He is the winner of the Alpha Centauri Prize, Progenitor Award, for his work on money mechanics for space presented at the Starship Congress in Dallas Texas, USA, in 2013 (Alpha Centauri Prize).
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