Manager, Learning and Networks
Baylie Damtie Yeshita has more than twenty years of experience in higher education leadership and management, research, community outreach, and teaching. Before joining AGU as manager of Thriving Earth Exchange Learning and Networks, he was the Vice Chancellor of Kepler in Rwanda (2019-2023) and President of Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia (2011-2018). During his term of office as President of Bahir Dar University, he initiated and led the successful transformation of the University to become a major research university in the region through the development of sustainable and impactful academic and research programs. At Kepler, he successfully led the accreditation of Kepler College in Rwanda and the development and operationalization of Kepler’s Graduate Employment Program, labor market driven education to employment bridging program, in Rwanda and Ethiopia. He has also served as a board member of several federal and regional governmental and non-governmental institutions in Ethiopia.
Baylie has a Ph.D. in Space Physics from the University of Oulu (Finland), an MSc in Space Physics from The Arctic University of Norway and a BSc in Physics from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia). He is a founder of the Washera Geospace and Radar Science Laboratory at Bahir Dar University, a leading space physics research center in the East African region. Baylie Damtie is passionate about unleashing the potential of science to transform communities around the world and is excited to join AGU. He lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma with his wife Emily, Director of English Language and Intercultural Center at Oklahoma State University, their daughter Elani, and their son Elias.
