The major achievements of the Launching Board have been the drafting of the Statutes of the Academy, developing criteria for the selection of Founding Fellows as well as making the final preparations for the launching conference of EAS on April 10, 2010.
The Launching Board recommended 50 prospective academics representing the natural sciences, mathematics, medicine, life sciences, agricultural sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and humanities, fine arts and letters to constitute the Founding Fellows of EAS. Forty-eight Founding Fellows accepted the distinctive honor.
The Launching Board managed to enlist the support and active participation of key stakeholders, including the Ethiopian Government, the scientific community, intellectuals, public and private institutions both within the country and abroad, towards the establishment and development of the Academy and enhancement of further collaboration with scientists north and south.
The Maiden Meeting
The culmination of the activities of the Launching Board was the Maiden Meeting of the Founding Fellows of EAS on 27 March 2010. At that meeting, 49 Fellows reviewed and approved the Statutes ( Amharic/ English ) and selected the first EAS Board.
As a newly established academy, EAS is interested in engaging young scientists who will be the next generation of its Fellows.
Towards this end, the Launching Board, in collaboration with the Royal Society/Pfizer African Academies Programme and Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), organized a sideline workshop on April 9, 2010 with the theme: “Engaging Young Scientists?
Sideline workshop on ‘engaging young scientists’
The workshop was attended by 40 participants drawn from different Universities and research institutions in the country. Guest speakers were representatives from the Royal Society, NASAC, Kenya and Ghana Academies of Sciences.
The Launching Board of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences launched the Academy on 10 April 2010. The official launching was attended by H.E. Girma Wolde Giorgis, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and 320 participants including representatives of African, European and US Academies, Networks of Academies as well as high profile national and international personalities.
The Launching Conference
The Launching Conference introduced the Founding Fellows, the President and the two Vice-Presidents and other Board members of EAS. (For proceedings of the Launching Conference, click here