Occupations
Description of Work:
Photo courtesy of Embassy. London

    Mr. Girma Woldegiorgis is the current president of Ethiopia. He was born in 1924 in Addis Ababa. Woldegiorgis is a married father of five children. Woldegiorgis first attended an Ethiopian Orthodox Church and later enrolled in the Teferi Mekkonen School where he continued his education until the Italian invasion. After the invasion Woldegiorgis studied at an Italian school called “ The Scoula Principe Piemonte.” In 1941 Woldegiorgis was enlisted at the Ethiopian Military Radio Communication which was set up by the United Kingdom. In 1944 Woldegiorgis graduated from the Genet Military School as a Sub-Lieutenant. Woldegiorgis took many air management courses after joining the Air Force in 1946. By 1948 Woldegiorgis had become an assistant teacher in air navigation and flight control. Between 1950 and 1952 , Woldegiorgis received certificates in Management, Air Traffic Management, and Air traffic Control. Woldegiorgis received these degrees under a training program that was sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Woldegiorgis received these degrees abroad in Holland, Sweden and Canada.

    In 1955 Woldegiorgis became head of Civil Aviation in Eritrea. By 1957 Woldegiorgis had assumed the post of Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and was also Board member of Ethiopian Airlines. Woldegiorgis became a member of parliament in 1961, and was elected speaker of the parliament for three consecutive years. Woldegiorgis served as manager of the Import and export enterprise (IMPEX). Girma Woldegiorgis also served as deputy Commissioner of the Peace Program which was drawn up in the 1970's .

    Between 1965 and 1974 Woldegiorgis was a board member of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce. Woldegiorgis was also Founder and Director of the Ghibe Agricultural Association, and President of The Ethiopian Red Cross Society. In 1991 Woldegiorgis launched an environmental protection association called Lem Ethiopia. Woldegiorgis has served as the Vice President on the board of Lem Ethiopia to date since 1991.

    On October 8, 2001 Woldegiorgis was elected President of Ethiopia by a unanimous vote of the Ethiopian Parliament. Woldegiorgis was re-elected President on October 9, 2007. Woldegiorgis speaks many languages fluently, these include; Afan Oromo (Oromiffa), Amharic, Tigrinya, Italian, English and French.