Brief Historical Overview of Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa University started with the establishment of the Addis Ababa University College in 1950. It continued to be known as the Addis Ababa University College until 1962 when its name changed to Haile Selassie I University. Its present name. Addis Ababa University has been given to it in 1974. This pioneer institution now has twelve faculties and colleges and four research institutes. It has an enrolment of over 12. 000 students both in the regular and extension programmes. All the faculties and colleges, except the College of Veterinary Medicine which is located at Debre Zeit, are found in Addis Ababa.

The College of Engineering was established in 1952 and started its operation with its first intake of students in the compound of the present Addis Ababa Technical School.

The Agriculture College (so called from 1952 to 1961) started in the compound of jimma Technical School in September 1952. The Faculty of Education was established in 1962.

The School of Social Work became part of the University in 1958 as per the agreement between the Ministry of Health, the United Nations, the Ministry of Education, and Addis Ababa University. The programme remained as part of the Faculty of Arts from 1960 to 1963, and was upgraded into a school with its own dean and academic commission in the 1963/64 academic year. The school started offering a four-year degree course in 1965.

The Law School began as a department in the Faculty of Arts in 1962 and was later elevated to a faculty level in September 1962.

The Faculty of Medicine, with its medicine and pharmacy divisions, was established in 1963. The first batch of graduates of Otis faculty had their graduation ceremony in 1968.

The School of Pharmacy had a very strong four-year BA programme and it run in the Faculty of Science starting in 1961. It was then made part of the Faculty of Medicine when the latter was established in 1963. But it was stressed that the school maintain c its close link with the Faculty of Science.

The College of Social Sciences was restructured in 1977 and brought together the former Arts Faculty, College of Business Administration, and School of Social Work and took up its present designation ever since. 

The Museum of Natural History and The National Herbarium are part of the Department of Biology and arc engaged.in the documentation and study of Ethiopia’s wild life and vegetation species. There is a large collection of specimens of the mammals. biros aquatic animals and Various plants of Ethiopia in these two museums.

The Ethiopian Geophysical Observatory was established in 1957 in the compound of the Science Faculty at Aral Kilo. This observatory, because it is found very near to the equator, has been able to study the electro jet activities of the area around the equator and this has made it to be one of the known observatories in Africa.

The previous College of Engineering and Building College, which started operation in 1960. were brought together to form the Faculty of Technology in 1969. The faculty was then transferred to the new building at Amist Kilo built under the auspices of the technical co-operation agreement will the Federal Republic of Germany. The two engineering campuses, because they are situated at separate locations in the city.  ere known as the Northern Campus and the Southern Campus.

The University’s evening extension programme started in 1953 in the then Addis Ababa University College and in 1957 in the Engineering College. When the University were organized in 1960, the extension programme, was launched in many of the faculties. and departments of the University. The purpose of the evening extension programme is to provide higher level education at a certificate, diploma, and degree levels for government and private workers who cannot enroll in the regular day programme. There are a number of research institutes in the Addis Ababa University. One of these is the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES). The IES, established in 1962. is one of the institutes of the University that has contributed greatly in publishing the Journal of Ethiopian Studies, and producing the bibliography of published materials on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, and collecting published materials on Ethiopian Kine (cultural poetry). The Institute also conducts joint research projects with various faculties of the AA U.

The Pathobiology Institute was established in 1963 as the Parasitology Research Institute of the of the Faculty of Medicine. In the few years following its establishment-. the Pathobiology Institute has made studies on parasites, insects, and anti-snail organisms. It also has opened up sections that engage in the study of plant and fish diseases, bacteriology, virology, and in identifying immunity enhancing plants.

The Institute of Educational Research was established in 1966 in order to serve as research institute for the study of issues related to education in Ethiopia. The Institute. s main aims are the co-ordination and encouragement of studies on education in Ethiopia. compiling published materials on education in Ethiopia, and publishing its own journal of education

The Institute of Development Research was established in 1971 with the aims of planning, coordinating, and conducting studies to try and alleviate the problems that hamper social development in the country. It also assists in the improvement of social science courses in the University by enriching them with the results of its studies. The IDR has published many results of research in this regard.

The only campus situated outside of Addis Ababa is the Debre Zeit Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, established in 1979.

The Addis Ababa University at present runs over 50 diploma and bachelor degree programmes and has very many Masters and PhD programmes. The first batch of graduate students were admitted into the Graduate School of the AAU in 19/8, and twenty-three of these graduated with their Masters Degrees in 1980.

Some of the areas that have a master’s programme are:

In the areas of languages: Foreign Languages and Literature, Linguistics, Amharic, English.

In the area of medicine: Human and Animal Physiology, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Pathobiology, Pediatrics, Public Health.

In the science stream: Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, and Statistics:

In the areas of social science: Geography, History, and Social Anthropology:

In the areas of engineering: Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering. Electrical Engineering;

In the areas of Business and Economics: Economics, Regional and Local Development Studies. business Administration and Economic planning and Development.

In the areas of education: Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Administration, Educational Psychology.

In the areas of Development Studies: Demography:

In the areas of Animal Health: Veterinary Medicine;

In the areas of information science: Information Science;

PhD programmes include: Biology, Chemistry. Teaching English as a Foreign Language, History, etc.