Dr. Addisalem Abathun, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Natural and Computational Sciences at Addis Ababa University (AAU), appointed in 2019 as the first female dean in its 70-year history. She earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics in 2016, becoming the first woman to graduate with this degree from AAU’s Mathematics Department through a sandwich program with Stockholm University. Previously an Assistant Professor, she specialized in complex analysis, focusing on functions of complex variables and hypergeometric functions, while managing a staff of 847 as dean.

An advocate for women in STEM, Dr. Abathun founded a women-only research group at AAU to mentor young female researchers in leadership and grant writing. Inspired by a teacher who dubbed her the “Queen of Mathematics,” she overcame significant challenges as a pioneer. She plans to expand collaborations with African women researchers and train future STEM leaders.