A Glimpse of Greatness

About the Book

The book is about the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, a remarkable person who with skill, commitment, and wisdom laid the foundations for Ethiopia's development. The book focuses on the person of Haile Selassie rather than his achievements as a statesman and the adroit politician about whom a lot has been written. His leadership skills, his religious devotion, his humor, sensitivities, his bias for education and the educated, his humanism- are reflected through unvarnished narration of some episodes and interactions of the Emperor with young and old, his officials, and petitioners.

About the Author

Born in Addis Ababa, the author was educated in the capital through undergraduate years. After graduation in 1958 with a B.A. from the University College of Addis Ababa, he pursued graduate studies and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University majoring in higher education administration. On return home, he worked for ten years, 1962-1972, in Ethiopia serving in various capacities. He served as Associate Registrar of Addis Ababa University, first Director of the Haile Selassie I Prize Trust, Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO and the National Commission on Education before joining the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He served in the United Nations Development Programme from 1972-1996. Starting as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Africa, he held increasingly responsible positions and served as Chief of Divisions from 1972-1983 in New York. He served as UNDP Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe from 1983-1988. He represented UNDP in many international and intergovernmental fora. After returning to UNDP Headquarters, he served on special assignments on interagency and donor matters and concluded his career with the UNDP as Senior Director of the UNDP Special Unit for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries. Since his retirement, he has been involved in various not-for-profit organizations, writing and, his lifetime hobby, photography. He is married to Rahel Nega and has three sons, Dereje, Dehne, and Beruk