“Since my childhood, education has been the source of my contentment. I always feel grateful and honored to dedicate my time to the field am passionate about. I feel delighted to teach others and help them understand the fascinating world of Biology. There are so many things that are beyond our scope of knowledge, so I am continuously learning” are her words.
There is always something about people who excel in their works….and Professor Yalemtsehay Mekonnen is one of them.
This time round, we proudly present to you the story of the first female Professor in Ethiopia, Yalemtsehay Mekonnen, a bio-medical scientist and a Professor of cell and human physiology in the College of Natural and Computational Sciences (CNCS) at Addis Ababa University.
Professor Yalemtsehay Mekonnen, the first child among four siblings, was born in Asela, Ethiopia in 1947. Though she was born in Asela, she grew up in different places as a result of her father’s job. She went to schools in Dessie, Gojam and finally in Addis Ababa. She said “growing up in different places gave me an opportunity to extract different cultures and way of life from different parts of Ethiopia”. She gives a big credit to her family that encouraged her and her siblings to make education a priority, especially her mother, whom she expressed in her own words: “my mother was herself uneducated but dedicated herself to follow up the academic performance of her children”.
Since childhood the urge to read and learn was infused in her. Growing up in cities where libraries are rare, she has used even the slightest chances to get books and immerse herself in the knowledge of mathematics, science, nature and the universe.
Throughout her elementary and high school studies, Professor Yalemtsehay was very much interested in science fields and was a top scorer in her academic results. As a result of that, she was double promoted and was able to finish her high school and joined the Addis Ababa University in 1972 at the age of 16. While she was in her senior year in the department of Biology, she was chosen for the “Development through Cooperation Campaign”-commonly known as Zemecha by the then Dergue government, in which university students were assigned to different rural areas to teach and support peasants in development programs. She was assigned to her birth place Arsi and started teaching Biology in a local high school.
That was the time she realized her passion for teaching. After her assignment, she was not able to immediately continue her studies because of the political situation, but she finally obtained her degree in 1978 after 7 years of enrollment which she could have finished in 3 years.
After completing her first degree, she began to work in the university as an assistant graduate and later joined the first graduate program and gained M.Sc. degree in Zoology in 1980, being among the first batch of graduates in the field and the first woman in the country.
That was the time her career as a lecturer began. However she still never said ‘it’s over’. The constant urge to learn and know more pushed her again to become a better version of her. She didn’t let the monotony of work dawn upon her; rather she squeezed all her time and opportunity to find the right place to continue to delve more on things she loved. So In 1988 she left for the University of Heidelberg in Germany to do her PhD in Human Physiology, with a special focus in the area of endocrinology (the biology of hormones).
Upon completing her PhD, Professor Yalemtsehay came back to her country in 1992 and continued to serve in the Department of Biology at the rank of Assistant Professor and was latter promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1999, and again was promoted to the rank of full professor in January 2009. Besides her teaching and research engagements she also served as the Head of the Department of Biology and Director of the Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology.
Professor Yalemtsehay has published over 100 scientific papers in reputable journals in the areas of plants of medicinal and nutritional value in vivo and in vitro physiological tests of useful plant extracts, assessment of health hazards to humans, animals and the environment, advocacy and collaborative work for the promotion of safe and sustainable use of natural resources, to name but few. She has done notable research on medicinal plants especially on Moringa Stenopetala (shiferaw/Alekko Shekatta). This research work has also served as a stepping stone to another mega project which she has been part of and was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Professor Yalemtsehay has received more than ten awards from different institutions like that of the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Awards for Women in 2016, Grant for Research Group Linkage of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation with the University of Hohenheim, Germany in 2014, a Gold Medal award from Addis Ababa University in 2009 during a promotion to a full professorship, and Certificate of recognition by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), to mention but few.
In her own inspiring words, professor Yalemtsehay said “The terminal PhD for me is not just the last terminal degree given to us but it also felt like giving meaning for passion (P), hard work (h) and don’t give up (D). This is what I want to share to every youth as I want to see a purpose- driven generation and my profession is helping me to contribute in this regard. As long as I can be of benefit to others, I believe creating a generation that thinks outside of the box will be my contribution to the dream I have for my community.”
Professor Yalemtsehay’s life and experience defies the very norm that traditionally women would put their careers on the backburner and make it impossible to balance between building an excellent career and managing a family life. She indeed secured two fulfilling positions remarkably as a renowned scientist and a mother of two and a grandmother of two grandchildren.
From a tiny meek girl in a small town of Arsi to becoming a big figure in the academic world, professor Yalemtsehay’s achievement has touched thousands of hearts and showed us that sheer dedication and audacity can take one a long way.
