List of Ethiopian Scientific Luminaries

[Ethiopia is not only about fratricidal war, famine, disease, bad governance, dictatorship, greed, corruption. and political limbo. The list below shows that, though economically struggling and educationally dislocated, it is stellar in the field of scientific achievement. The catalogue below is by no means complete. Please feel free to suggest other luminaries missing from the list.]

1. Captain Alemayehu Abebewas the first Black African commercial jet pilot and the first black African to command a commercial jetliner across the Atlantic. He achieved this distinction in 1957, becoming a central figure in Ethiopian aviation history.
2. Dr. Aberra Molla: A visionary who computerized the Ethiopian alphabet, created fonts and word processing software, and played a crucial role in standardizing Ethiopic and its inclusion in Unicode. He achieved this spectacular feat in 1987. His pioneering work allowed Ethiopians to use their native language on computers. In 2018, he was awarded the honour of Lifetime Unicode Memberfor his scientific contribution.
3. Dr. Berhane Asfaw: A world-renowned paleoanthropologist, he led significant expeditions in Ethiopia, including the discovery of 160,000-year-old fossilized skulls near Herto, confirming Ethiopia as the cradle of humanity.
4. Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged: Discovered a 3.3-million-year-old child’s remains in Ethiopia, establishing the child as the oldest ancestor of modern humans. He was the first Ethiopian to lead such a significant research team in the field of anthropology.
5. Engineer Kitaw Ejigu: An aerospace scientist who worked for NASA, Rockwell International, and Boeing. He made notable contributions to space shuttle technology and flight simulation. He also founded a political party to bring political change to Ethiopia.
6. Professor Aklilu Lemma: Discovered the use of the Endodplant to control the disease Bilharzia. He played a significant role in science and technology development in Ethiopia and internationally, working with the UN and other organizations. He won the Alternative Nobel, the Right Livelihood Award
7. Dr. Tewolde Berhan, Gebre Egziabher[Ethiopian scientist, and anti-globalization activist who won the Alternative Nobel, the Right Livelihood Awardin 2000
8. Professor Tilahun Yilma:A veterinary virologist hailing from Ethiopia stationed for a long time at the University of California, Davis, developed a highly effective and simple to use vaccine for the deadly cattle disease rinderpest and on account of that won the highest international prize in animal science, the Ciba-Geigy award. He also worked to develop diagnostic kits and biotechnology laboratories in developing countries. His contribution has been crucial for agriculture-dependent countries of the Third World including Ethiopia.
9. Engineer Fesseha Atlaw: Known for creating the first Ethiopian word processor in DOS, he contributed to the computerization of the Ethiopian script and its inclusion in international standards like Unicode in 2018. His work enabled Ethiopians to use their unique scripts on digital devices.
10. Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, an Ethiopian scientist, won the National Medal of Science, the most prestigious recognition for scientists in the United States, on 26 October 2023. Dr. Gebisa is renowned worldwide as a preeminent plant geneticist, with a primary focus on the research of sorghum, a crucial food source in Africa. In 2009, he was awarded the esteemed World Food Prizefor pioneering a drought-resistant sorghum hybrid that demonstrated resilience against the invasive parasitic weed, Striga, prevalent in African farming communities.
11. Last but not least, we have Heman Bekele, a 14-year-old ninth grader from Annandale, Virginia, who was crowned in 2023 “America’s Top Young Scientist” after inventing a groundbreaking soap designed to treat skin cancer.