By Patricia Waldron
On

For Karen (Kah-REN) Petrosyan '26, a double major in statistics and economics, his favorite memory of Cornell is also his first. Petrosyan grew up in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and was unable to visit campus before enrolling. But he knew Cornell would give him the opportunity to study both his chosen fields at the highest level possible and to pursue his passion for research.

“I remember the first time I came to Cornell,” he said. “I was so amazed by the campus, by the opportunity that I had at that time.”

As he is about to graduate, Petrosyan now has years of research experience under his belt, along with a handful of graduate-level courses in economics and finance. He is more than ready to begin his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business this fall, where he'll focus on quantitative marketing and industrial organization – the study of firms, consumer preferences, pricing and demand estimation. He hopes his work will yield new tools, both for academics and industry, to analyze product pricing and consumer demand.

“Cornell gave me a strong foundation, and I’m looking forward to all the new and diverse things coming up soon,” he said.

Petrosyan started doing research the summer after his sophomore year. His research interests lie at the intersection of statistics and economics. Currently, he is working on two projects. One is with Eswar Prasad, the Nandlal P. Tolani Senior Professor of International Trade Policy in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. The second is with Levon Barseghyan, the Robert Julius Thorne Professor of Economics, and Francesca Molinari, the H.T. Warshow and Robert Irving Warshow Professor of Economics, both in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Faculty mentors guide research pursuits.

a young male student with short brown hair sits at a chair and works on a laptop

Building strong relationships with faculty is important because they will be your mentors throughout your time at Cornell and guide you toward meaningful opportunities.

 

Karen Petrosyan '26
Statistics and Economics

“Those three professors were my research supervisors, but also my academic advisors," Petrosyan said. "They guided me through what I wanted to pursue related to research.”

In collaborative research with the faculty, he is working to update a famous model used to estimate consumer preferences. The model assumes that every consumer considers all the available products in the market, regardless of price. Their modeling, however, is based on the idea that in real life, price can shape not only what consumers choose, but also which products they will seriously consider.

In addition to his research, Petrosyan is most proud of his work with the Cornell Data Journal, a student club that applies data science techniques to investigate various industries. He led a stock market trend analysis team and a finance project team. During his time at Cornell, Petrosyan also competed with the Cornell Chess Club, representing the university in intercollegiate tournaments.  

In looking back on his Cornell career, Petrosyan offers this advice to current and future Cornellians: Forge relationships with faculty members, even if it feels difficult, or if you aren't involved in their research. 

“Building strong relationships with faculty is important," he said, "because they will be your mentors throughout your time at Cornell and guide you toward meaningful opportunities."


 


Patricia Waldron is a writer for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.

Photography by Zoe Ku '27, Digital Content Producer