Tatevik Avetisyan Artoonian

Personal Information

Dr. Tatevik Avetisyan Artoonian grew up in the Republic of Armenia, more than 7,000 miles from her new home in Chico. Avetisyan’s road to the College of Agriculture resembles many of her students’ in one significant way: 4-H was a formative experience in her journey. Avetisyan’s local school in rural Armenia hosted a 4-H club that was jointly sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture and the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture. Her club focused on gardening, learning about dairy production from a local dairy operation, and exploring the art of carpet-making. Participating in 4-H deepened the love for agriculture that Avetisyan inherited from her father and grandfather, who ran a small diversified farm. Avetisyan and her 4-H club won a national competition where they presented their club activities, earning her an invitation to attend a science-oriented high school at the age of 15. The high school fed into Armenian National Agrarian University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in economics with a focus on agribusiness and marketing, graduating summa cum laude. The program was jointly established by the Armenian National Agrarian University and Texas A&M University. She went on to earn her master’s degree in economics with a focus on agribusiness and marketing in the same program before moving to East Lansing, Michigan, to pursue a second master’s degree in agricultural, food, and resource economics and finally earning her PhD in community sustainability at Michigan State University. In 2015, Avetisyan was one of the four students who won the first place at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) Global Case Competition, the first win in MSU’s history.

Research and Professional Interests

As an interdisciplinary scholar, Avetisyan draws from fields such as entrepreneurship, economics, supply chain risk management, network science, agribusiness management, and sustainability science to analyze complex issues in food and agriculture industry. Her research focuses on strengthening farms and food enterprises in local and regional foods systems.

Courses

• ABUS 311 – Agricultural Markets and Pricing

• ABUS 421 – Advanced Agribusiness Management