Alemayehu Teferra

Profession: Engineer

Dr. Alemayehu Teferra, a civil engineer and former president of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, was the only university president ever to be voted into office by the faculty. Dr. Alemayehu was arrested on 2 April 1993 on accusations that he was part of the Red Terror campaign of the former government despite the fact that authorities absolved him of any crime in 1991. In addition, Dr. Alemayehu is among 42 professors dismissed from Addis Ababa University in April 1993 for criticizing the government when security forces used excessive violence during an anti-government student demonstration, which resulted in the death of at least one student. Dr. Alemayehu was released from jail on 9 June 2003. In a letter to AAAS, Dr. Alemayehu stated, "I have no doubt that your effort has made an important contribution towards my release."