Dr. Armas is an associate professor in the Academic Department of Humanities, a member of the Research Center at the Universidad del Pacífico, and the coordinator of his department's Religion Studies Seminar.  He holds a PhD in Philosophy and Letters (History) from the Universidad de Navarra (Spain) and a Licentiate in History from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. He also has a Diploma in Church History in Latin America from the aforementioned Spanish university.
Professor Armas is the secretary and a permanent member of Peru's National Academy of History, the president of the Peruvian Association of Economic History, and a member of other academic organizations besides. He has conducted research for Peru's Central Reserve Bank, the Riva–Agüero Institute at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and the Ignacia Foundation. 
Dr. Armas has garnered several awards such as the 2007 PUCP National Prize, the National Assembly of Rectors' University Book of 2006, and the 1994 Juan Rulfo Prize awarded by Radio France International. He has authored 15 books and more than 70 articles on the history of religion and economic history. His most important works include Liberales, Protestantes y Masones. Modernidad y Tolerancia Religiosa. Perú Siglo XIX (1998); La Invención del Patrimonio Católico. Modernidad e Identidad en el Espacio Religioso Peruano (1820-1950) (2006); Iglesia, Bienes y Rentas. Secularización Liberal y Reorganización Patrimonial en Lima (1820-1950)(2007); Patrimonio Divino y Capitalismo Criollo.El Proceso Desamortizador de Censos Eclesiásticos en el Perú (2010); and Una historia del Turismo en el Perú. El Estado, los Visitantes y los Empresarios (2018). He also co-edited La Memoria de Manuel de Argumaniz: Un Empresario Peruano del Siglo XIX (2019) alongside Dr. Martin Monsalves.

Areas of specialization:
History of the Catholic Church, with an emphasis on sociopolitical and economic aspects; economic history of tourism and cultural heritage.