Addis Ababa University Approved and Awarded Seven Full Professorship Honors, this occurred when, Addis Ababa University governing body on its meeting held at October 26, 2022, approved the promotion of seven scholars to the rank of full professor. The promotion cases have been thoroughly evaluated by internal and external evaluators, endorsed by academics and approved by the university senate.

Prof. Feleke Zewege who is currently the Director of Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management is one of the recipients of the full professorship award entitlement.

Prof. Feleke is an Environmental Chemist and Technologist of international repute. He obtained his BSc. Degree in Chemistry at Addis Ababa University and then completed his MSc. and PhD in Environmental Engineering form Gunma University of Technology in Japan. He joined the Department as Assistant Professor in 2002 and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2007. Since then, he has been actively involved in research, teaching, community services and capacity building activities.

He served as Associate Dean for Research and Technology Transfer of College of Natural and Computational Sciences and he is Founding Head of the Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management (ACEWM) which was awarded through a highly competitive process. The ACEWM has become in internationally accredited regional Center of Excellence with substantial potential for transforming the water management challenges in Eastern and Southern Africa.

His research work focuses on “Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment and Environmental Pollution” which encompass the development of appropriate technologies for the removal of water contaminants, removal of toxic substances from industrial wastewater, monitoring of hazardous substance in air, water, soil, food and biological systems. Innovative technologies and approaches for drinking water and waste water systems which include technologies that combine pollution prevention and resource recovery are major focus areas.

Due to his innovative research and development ideas, he has been awarded prestigious and highly competitive research grants from World Bank (ACEII Project), NORAD (NOREHDII and NORPART Projects), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of UK (WISER Project), National Science Foundation-USAID (PEER Science Project), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF Project), International Foundation for Science (IFS Project) in Sweden, and the AAU thematic research and adaptive problem-solving projects. Most of these projects nest PhD and MSc students and have led to practical community impact.

In addition to research and development, he has been involved in a number of projects of national development interest which include industrial, agricultural, mining and mineral processing, geothermal energy development and technologies, hydropower development, municipal wastewater treatment technologies, solid and hazardous waste management, and water supply and sanitation projects. He is a Certified Environmental Management Consultant since 2007.

In recognition of his research leadership potential and capacity and effective community engagement, he received Meritorious National Achievement Award from the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2013, Diploma of Laureate for Outstanding Achievement in Lifetime Water Treatment Processes and Technology from Abyssinia Award in 2019, and he becomes Ethiopian Academy of Science Fellow 2021.

After his last promotion in 2007, he has been teaching several undergraduate and graduate courses and supervised 50 MSc and 10 PhD graduate student researches within the Department of Chemistry and other academic units in the College of Natural and Computational Sciences. He has developed new multidisciplinary MSc. and PhD programs and the associated curriculum within the University. Examples include graduate programs at the Centre for Environmental Sciences, Africa Centre of Excellence for Water Management, and Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources, among others.

He has published over 70 papers in reputable journals and publishers. He reviews for several Journals of international repute while serving as editor and associate editor for the Bulletin of Chemical Society of Ethiopia and as reviewer for various national and international journals. He has also supervised several PhD and MSc students to successful completion. He has also served or serving in various academic and professional associations.

His notable pioneering achievements include leading successful international accreditation of 5 MSc. and 3 PhD programs which is the first in AAU and Nationally and establishment of the National Fluorosis Mitigation Program under the Ministry of Water and Energy.

ACEWM’s academic staff and management would like to express their warm spirits on this astonishing full professorship award of Professor Feleke Zewege.
Congratulation