The U.S. Embassy and Addis Ababa University (AAU) jointly celebrated over 70 years of partnership in higher education and the 60th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.
In 1966, Senator Robert Kennedy laid the cornerstone of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in memory of President Kennedy. Today, the Kennedy Library remains an enduring symbol of U.S.-Ethiopian friendship and serves as the academic core for AAU’s 40,000 students across 18 campuses. To ensure the library’s long-term safety and structural integrity, the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will fund a preservation project at the Kennedy Library for urgent roof and drainage repairs in order to preserve this historic intellectual hub. Future generations of students and scholars will be able use the Kennedy Library to access research materials, global literature, and as a collaborative academic space.
The United States’ long legacy of cooperation with Ethiopia in higher education began under President Harry Truman’s Point Four initiative in the 1950s. As the United States mark 250 years of American independence this year, the U.S. reaffirms its commitment to partnering with Ethiopia to advance higher education, foster academic exchange, and drive mutual progress.
