U.S. Embassy and Addis Ababa University Celebrate Over 70 Years of Partnership in Higher Education and Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library
U.S. Embassy Press Release
BY U.S. EMBASSY SPOKESPERSON
Addis Ababa, August 14, 2026 – The U.S. Embassy and Addis Ababa University (AAU) jointly celebrated over 70 years of partnership in higher education and the 60th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.
In 1966, Senator Robert Kennedy laid the cornerstone of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in memory of President Kennedy. Today, the Kennedy Library remains an enduring symbol of U.S.-Ethiopian friendship and serves as the academic core for AAU’s 40,000 students across 18 campuses. To ensure the library’s long-term safety and structural integrity, the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will fund a preservation project at the Kennedy Library for urgent roof and drainage repairs in order to preserve this historic intellectual hub. Future generations of students and scholars will be able use the Kennedy Library to access research materials, global literature, and as a collaborative academic space.
The United States’ long legacy of cooperation with Ethiopia in higher education began under President Harry Truman’s Point Four initiative in the 1950s. As the United States mark 250 years of American independence this year, the U.S. reaffirms its commitment to partnering with Ethiopia to advance higher education, foster academic exchange, and drive mutual progress.
The U.S. Embassy and Addis Ababa University also celebrated a historical shift in Ethiopia’s higher education landscape: the transition of public universities toward full self-governance. Since 2023, the U.S. Embassy has invested over $838,000 in projects carried out with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of International Education to support Ethiopian universities as they develop policies and governance documents that enable true academic freedom, sound financial self-reliance, transparent governance, and internationally recognized research standards. This support contributed to Addis Ababa University’s efforts to achieve full autonomous status and helped nine additional research and technology universities meet crucial autonomy readiness benchmarks.
In his remarks, U.S. Ambassador Ervin Massinga said, “Beginning over 70 years ago, President Truman’s administration partnered with Ethiopia to establish foundational institutions like Haramaya, Gondar, and Jimma Universities. Today we are deeply honored to remain Ethiopia’s undisputed partner of choice in modernizing and expanding its higher education system.”
In a video, university presidents from the nine leading research universities shared their reflections about the sustained support from the U.S. Embassy for Ethiopian higher education and its lasting impact on their institutions’ transition into autonomous universities.
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As always Good Ole USA standing shoulder to shoulder with the old country and providing badly needed financial and technical assistance in the area of higher learning. Meanwhile, what the goons in Moscow and Beijing are doing, you may ask? Both are driving the overqualified H.E. Ahmed Shide up the wall with ‘where is money, where is my money?’ I told you not to start with me about that expecting mothers killer in Moscow and the neighborhood bully in Beijing.