Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa University
አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ
Former names
 University College of Addis Ababa (1950–1962)
Haile Selassie I University (1962–1975)
Type State university
Established 1950
President Professor Tassew Woldehanna[1]
Students 48,673 (2013/14)[2]
Location Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Campus Addis Ababa (14 campus, including main)
Language English
Website aau.edu.et

Addis Ababa University (AAU) (Amharic: አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a large, highly residential national university in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The university is the oldest school of higher education in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about 45 kilometres (28 mi) away. AAU has several associated research institutions including the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. The Ministry of Education admits qualified students to AAU based on their score on the Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Examination (EHEEE).

History

Front entrance to Addis Ababa University.

The origins of AAU was a two-year college in 1950 by Dr Lucien Matte, S.J., at the appeal of Atse Haile Selassie I.[3] It began operations the following year. Over the following two years an affiliation with the University of London was developed.

The nucleus of AAU was formed with the establishment of the University College of Addis Ababa (UCAA) in 1960.[4] UCAA, which initially consisted of the Faculties of Arts and Science, became a fully fledged college when it was chartered in 1954. In 1955, the Building College was opened. In February 1961, these various colleges and the Theological College were brought together to form the Haile Selassie University. Atse Haile Selassie I gave his Guenete Leul Palace to serve as the administration building and main campus. He had abandoned the palace, where a number of his ministers and favorites were killed in the wake of the abortive Coup d'état in 1960, in favor of the new Jubilee Palace.[5] Following the 1974 revolution, the university was briefly renamed University of Ethiopia (National University) before it came to assume its present designation, AAU, in 1975.[6] In the wake of the revolution, AAU was closed for two years and students and staff were drafted into what was known as the Development through Cooperation Campaign (zemecha), designed to arise the awareness of the rural population in the spirit of the revolution.[7] The university offered its first Master's programs in 1979 and its first PhD programs in 1987.[8]

Administration

Until 1974 the charter provided for a governance structure in the following descending order or authority: Chancellor (the Emperor himself); the Board of Governors, composed of ministers and members of the royal family; and the Faculty Council, made up of the university officers, deans, directors and elected members. The Faculty later became the Senate. In 1977, the AAU lost its relative autonomy when it was brought under the Commission for Higher Education, which came to exercise administrative jurisdiction over all institutions of higher learning.[5] In 1993, AAU was placed under the Ministry of Education by a government proclamation.

Emperor Haile Selassie (center) and French Canadian Jesuit, Fr. Lucien Matte, SJ (right) at the University, 1951

Influence

Over and above their academic pursuits, AAU students have been actively engaged in community service (such as conducting literacy programs) and political struggle, particularly in the years before the 1974 revolution. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, students were required to do a year of national service under the Ethiopia University Service program. University teachers and students were instrumental in exposing the hidden 1973 famine and launching the first famine relief program.[5] The Ethiopian Student Movement, of which the University was the birthplace and main venue, played a pivotal role in bringing about the revolution.[7] Almost all leaders of the political organizations that were active in the revolutionary years or are in power now had their political formation inside the University.[8] In 2013/2014, there were 33,940 undergraduate students, 13,000 graduate students, and 1,733 PhD students, making a total student body of 48,673.

Campuses and colleges

Colleges

  • College of Social Sciences
  • College of Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and communication
  • College of Development Studies
  • College of Business and Economics
  • College of Law and Governance Studies
  • College of Education and Behavioral Studies
  • College of Natural and Computational Sciences
  • Skunder Boghossian College of Performing and Visual Arts
  • College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture
  • College of Health Sciences

Research and Teaching Institutes

  • Academy of Ethiopian Languages and Cultures
  • Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
  • Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology
  • Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development
  • Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources
  • Institute of Biotechnology
  • Institute of Educational Research
  • Institute of Ethiopian Studies
  • Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy
  • Institute of Peace and Security Studies
  • Horn of Africa Regional Center and Environment Network

Schools

  • Alle School of Fine Arts and Design
  • School of Allied Health Sciences
  • School of Commerce
  • School of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  • School of Information Science
  • School of Journalism and Communications
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Pharmacy
  • School of Public Health
  • School of Social Work
  • Yared School of Music
  • Yoftahe Nigussie School of Theatrical Arts

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "AAU History of the Presidency". Addis Ababa University. 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "AAU at a glance". Addis Ababa University. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Trudeau, Eduard (1964). Higher Education in Ethiopia. Montreal.
  4. ↑ Three Decades of University Education. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University. 1980.
  5. 1 2 3 Haile, Fisseha. "Addis Ababa University: a Study of an Institution 1961-1981". PICES. 1: 491–507.
  6. ↑ Semru, Mulugeta. "The Development of Higher Education in Ethioipa". PICES. 1: 215–231.
  7. 1 2 Balsvik, Randi Rønning (2009). "Addis Ababa University in the Shadow of the Derg, 1974-1991". Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies: 265.
  8. 1 2 Wagaw, Teshome (1990). The Development of Higher Education and Social Change, an Ethiopian Experience. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.

Coordinates: 9°2′48″N 38°45′33″E / 9.04667°N 38.75917°E / 9.04667; 38.75917

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