Mekelle University
መቐለ ዩኒቨርስቲ | |
| File:Mekelle University logo.png | |
| Established | 1991 |
|---|---|
| President | Professor Joachim Herzig |
| Location | , |
| Website | www |
Mekelle University is a university in Mek'ele, located in the northwestern Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It lies at a distance of 783 kilometers from Addis Ababa, the national capital.
History
Mekelle University College began life in 1993 as the Arid Zone Agricultural College which found a permanent home in Mek'ele after a series of relocations. During the former regime, the college was originally scheduled to be located near Seleh Leha, in northwestern Tigray. However it was first established at University of Asmara as a faculty, but was then moved to Agarfa in southern Ethiopia, when the Derg displaced Asmara University in 1990 due to the political instability at the time. A year later in 1991, Asmara University returned to Asmara and the Arid Zone Agricultural Faculty moved temporarily to Alamaya University. In 1993, the Arid Zone Agricultural College was again relocated, this time to Mek'ele, as the College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, and permanently settled at the Endayesus Campus, which had been a military barracks since the time of Emperor Menelik.
The Arid Zone Agricultural College started with three degree programs in 1993 with 42 students. After two years, the Faculty of Science and Technology was established at the same campus and, together, these two faculties were then upgraded to Mekelle University College. Side by side the Law Faculty then began by accepting diploma students in the continuing education program.
In May 2000, the Government of Ethiopia (Council of Ministers, Regulations No. 61/1999 of Article 3) formalized Mekelle University as an autonomous higher education institution having its own legal personality. The merger of the two former colleges created the University: Mekelle Business College and Mekelle University College. The two colleges have their own historical developments and relocations.
At present, Mekelle University is one of the 31 secular public Universities in Ethiopia. In Mekelle University, there are seven colleges, six institutes and 54 departments with many programs under them.The student intake capacity of Mekelle University has reached 28,000 (10% of the population of Mekelle City).
Campus, Colleges and Institutes
Mekelle University has four campuses with the city of Mek'ele. Each campus is home to a number of colleges and/or institutes:
- Endayesus campus
- College of DryLand Agriculture and Natural Resources Management
- College of Natural and Computational Sciences
- Ethiopian Institute of Technology
- Institute of Paleoenvironment and Heritage Conservation
- Institute of Geo-Information and Earth Observation
- Institute of Environment, Gender and Development Studies
- Institute of Water and Environment
- Institute of Climate and Society
- Institute of Pedagogical Sciences
- Adi Haki campus
- College of Law and Governance
- College of Social Sciences and Languages
- College of Business and Economics
- Aider campus
- College of Health Sciences
- Kelamino campus
- College of Veterinary Sciences
Three additional campuses are in development: Mekelle University Meles Zenawi Campus at Kuiha, MIT at Kelamino, and the Sport Academy at the Old Stadium (Baloni) in Mek'ele city.