Dr. Tsegaye Habtemariam, DVM, MPVM, Ph.D.

Tsegaye Habtemariam, DVM, MPVM, PhD

April 25, 1942-August 27, 2021

Dr. Tsegaye Habtemariam was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to parents, Habtemariam Abatatek and Mulatwork Yifru. His mission and his passion were the same – knowledge and the practice of effectively passing that knowledge unto others. This practice started when he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences from Alemaya College (now Haramaya University) in Ethiopia. He continued his academic pursuits by earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Upon graduation, he returned to Ethiopia to marry the love of his life, Mintwab Asfaw. Soon afterwards, they moved to Toronto, Canada, where they had their first son, Robel. They soon matriculated to California, and he studied at the University of California, Davis where he received both his Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) and his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in epidemiology. Upon graduation, Mintwab gave birth to their second child, Ethiopia.

Dr. Habtemariam traveled the world, finally landing at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1979 as an associate professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine (now College of Veterinary Medicine). He ascended the academic and administrative ranks, becoming professor of epidemiology and biomedical informatics in 1984,. More recently, Dr. Habtemariam served as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health (2006-2014) at Tuskegee University. Following his deanship, Dr. Habtemariam returned to the Department of Pathobiology as professor of epidemiology and biomedical informatics. He continued his academic work through teaching and research in the veterinary and public health programs and in the college's Interdisciplinary Pathobiology and Integrative Biosciences PhD programs until his retirement in 2019.

His enthusiasm for communicating knowledge, and keeping its intensity alight led him to over 300 publications and presentations internationally. He created a community by serving on editorial boards of scientific journals; grant proposal reviewer; national scientific site visit team member; and chair of national scientific grant review committees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute, and the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Habtemariam served as chair of national and international conferences and consultant for national and international organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Along with his team, he provided more than 20 international workshops in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and the US to train scientists in science-based risk analysis.

Dr. Habtemariam’s honors -- which included the Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award (1984), Outstanding Faculty Research Award (1984), and the Outstanding Teacher Award for Creativity (1991) – were appreciated. His reputation as both catalyst and comfort – being a magnet for those who felt as he did, meant as much to him as did his appointments, including the NIH National Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS; the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological

Criteria in Foods (2000-2002); among others., the US, the Caribbean, and many countries in Africa.

Although he was blessed to have accomplished much in his life professionally, arguably his greatest joy in life was his family. He is survived by his lovely wife, Mintwab Asfaw, and his four children, Robel, Ethiopia, Azage, and Brooke. His siblings who he also loved dearly, brother Zeleke, sisters Assegedech, Abebech, Tsehai, and Asselefech. He was blessed to have had many close friends, like Gashe Bayou Belinah, and many colleagues at Tuskegee, who became his unofficial family, in his more than 40 years there. He has lived a full life, and we ultimately thank God for giving us the opportunity to know and experience life with Dr. Habtemariam.

A livestream of the service will be viewable with the link below:

https://vimeo.com/596092489