Mr. Ghougassian began his career as an instructor of philosophy and psychology at the University of San Diego in 1966. Since then and to date, he has been an assistant professor and then associate professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego. He was a law student at the University of San Diego School of Law in 1979 - 1980. He joined the law office of Bruce Harrison in San Diego in 1980 - 1981. From February 1981 to September 1981, Mr. Ghougassian was a member of the Office of Policy Development at the White House. In June 1981 he also served as Special Assistant for Public and Private Liaison, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Department of Health and Human Services. From January 1982 to July 1982, he was a consultant with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice. Since 1982 he has been director of the Peace Corps in the Yemen Arab Republic.

He received his B.A. (philosophy) in 1964 and his M.A. in 1965 at the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. In 1966 he received his Ph.D.c. and in 1969 his Ph.D. (philosophy) from Louvain University in Belgium. In 1974 he received his B.Sc. (family studies) from Louvain University and his M.A. in 1977 (international relations) from the University of San Diego and his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. His foreign languages are Arabic, Armenian, French, Italian, and Spanish. He is married to the former Zena S. Yasmine, and they have three children. He was born March 5, 1944, in Cairo, Egypt.