Haramaya University

Haramaya University
Established 1954
Type Public
President Dr. Girma Amente
Location Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
Campus Urban (Harar Campus and Chiro Campus) semi urban (Main campus)
Website www.haramaya.edu.et

Haramaya University (formerly known as Alemaya University) is one of the oldest universities in Ethiopia. It is located 5 km from haramaya, a town in the East Hararghe Zone, about 17 kilometers from the city of Harar and 40 kilometers from Dire Dawa.

The university was founded with the help of Oklahoma State University (OSU), accepting its first students in 1954, and the new campus was opened in January 1958 by Emperor Haile Selassie. OSU's participation set a record for American technical assistance programs, with 60 professionals supporting this project at one time,[1] but due to the lack of qualified educators this required a commitment to his endeavor from the University for several years; this degree of commitment was due to the personal support of the former OSU president, Henry G. Bennett.[2]

Haramaya University was promoted from a college within Addis Ababa University on May 27, 1985 to an independent university. For many years the university had been limited to only an agricultural curriculum, but in 1996 the university was given permission to open other faculties and departments.

History

The agreement made on May 16, 1952 between the governments of the then imperial Ethiopia and the United States of America was believed to have given rise to the present Haramaya University. After the historic document named "Agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the Technical Cooperation Administration of the Government of the United States of America", Oklahoma State University embarked on establishing physical plants and bringing in staff from abroad to run academic, research and extension programs in the then known the Imperial Ethiopia College of Agriculture and Mechanical arts. With limited staff and facilities available, it was possible to handle only the junior and senior classes at Haramaya during the first year of its operation, and freshman and sophomore courses were given at Jimma Agricultural and Technical School. The four-year college program started at Haramaya campus in 1954/55 academic year. The first batch graduated with B.Sc. in Agriculture on January 16, 1958. The Emperor of Ethiopia, Hailesillasie-I was present at that graduation ceremony of the college. The college, in addition to teaching activities, was a national coordinator of agricultural research and extension through the technical and staff support obtained from Oklahoma State University. Until 1963, the college was virtually dependent on Oklahoma both administratively and academically; however, since 1963, after the first Ethiopian dean was appointed, the role of Americans was limited to advisory and technical supports. The College became a chartered member of Addis Ababa University following the contractual termination of Oklahoma State University in 1967. Consequently, it was named Alemaya College of Agriculture. The college restructured itself by closing mechanical arts and agricultural education departments, and opened graduate study programs during the 1979/80 academic year. The launching of graduate studies was intended to lay down a foundation for advanced academic and research 1979/80 Academic Year, 29 students were enrolled to study various fields of agriculture. After three decades of functioning as a college, the institution was upgraded to a university status on May 27, 1985 following the addition of the Faculty of Forestry. It was then named Alemaya University of Agriculture that graduated agriculturists whose specializations were in the fields of animal sciences, plant sciences, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, and agricultural extension. In addition, its activities in running a continuing education program in Accounting and Management, in Dire Dawa and Harar is worth mentioning. The University, once again went through another phase of transformation during the 1995/96 academic year by launching new programs in the field of teacher education and health. The opening of two faculties, namely the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Health Sciences, further diversified the existing programs, and consequently the institution was again renamed Haramaya University. In the last few years, the University has witnessed tremendous expansion in same fields of study, students staff and physical infrastructure facilities. In September 2003, two more faculties, namely the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Business and Economics were added. One year later, in 2004, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was launched and the Faculty of Technology, which letter become the Institute of Technology was opened in the year 2005. The university, apart from undergraduate programs, has widely been engaged in the expansion and diversification of graduate programs. Currently, the College of Agriculture has fourteen masters and five PhD programs. In addition, the Faculty of Education has opened two Masters of Education programs in Biology and Chemistry.

Colleges and faculties

Travel

Haramaya University is located 17 km and 40 km from Harar and Diredawa, respectively. To come to the University you can use train, air or road transportation.Assuming that you start your journey from Addis Ababa, Capital City of Ethiopia, you can use daily services of the national carrier Ethiopian Airlines. The journey ends at Diredawa and You need to use road transport to complete your journey. Luxurious bus services (sky bus/Selam Bus) are also available.The train service is temporarily terminated.

Notable alumni

Research

Haramaya University is pioneer for Higher Education and Research in Agriculture in Ethiopia. It has contributed a lot in training highly qualified work force from BSc to pHD in Agriculture since its establishment. Its research and outreach activities focus on crops: potato, sweet potato,sorghum, millet, maize, wheat, teff, common bean, fababean, field-pea and groundnut. The University has released important crop technologies to farmers.

References

  1. ↑ Frederic R. Wickert, "Universities and Africa", African Studies Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1960), p. 28
  2. ↑ Wickert, "Universities and Africa", pp. 32f

3. http://www.haramaya.edu.et/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=81

External links

Coordinates: 9°25′30″N 42°2′0″E / 9.42500°N 42.03333°E