Alemneh to lead IU’s Office of International Development
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowJuly 20, 2015
News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Teshome Alemneh will bring a quarter century of experience in managing higher education projects worldwide to Indiana University as the new leader of its Office of International Development.
Effective Aug. 1, Alemneh will serve as associate vice president for international research and development. He comes to IU from the American Council on Education, where he has been a program officer for numerous grants and projects, working in more than 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa since 2008.
Alemneh will be charged with overseeing one of the strategic imperatives in IU’s Bicentennial Strategic Plan: to enhance the university’s capacity to obtain and manage institutional development projects that enhance IU education and research.
“Indiana University has a long, distinguished tradition of projects that have created or enhanced higher education institutions in other countries,” said David Zaret, IU vice president for international affairs. “Teshome Alemneh has the experience and vision for new global engagements that build on IU research and teaching and also advance national foreign policy objectives.”
The IU Office of International Development pursues and administers externally funded technical-assistance and institution-building grants in developing countries. These programs empower IU faculty, students and staff to engage globally in a wide range of activities designed to improve the lives of people overseas.
"Higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to address development challenges, contribute to meaningful global engagement and promote people-to-people relationships,” Alemneh said. “With my expertise and experience, I am prepared to work hard with the team at IU to be a thought leader and expert advancing the university’s global reputation, realizing its strategic plans for partnership, global engagement and resource mobilization and creating international opportunities."
A Fulbright New Century Scholar, Alemneh earned his doctorate at Ghent University in Belgium. He has effectively managed more than a dozen multimillion-dollar projects funded by the U.S. government and other organizations.
Since 2008, Alemneh has worked closely with IU regarding its partnership with the University of Liberia and the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts to rebuild Liberia’s health and life science academic programs and address a national shortage of health care workers.
Before his current role within the American Council on Education’s Office of Higher Education for Development, Alemneh held numerous educational posts in his native country of Ethiopia. In 2001 through 2004, he served as Ethiopia’s deputy minister of education, after leading the Department of Higher Education since 1998. He held faculty positions at Hawassa University and Ambo College of Agriculture.
The IU Office of International Development is also engaged in programs to develop higher education leadership and management in Indonesia and to manage a youth leadership program in Burma and an endowment program with the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan.
Source: Indiana University Newsroom