The 2017 Bikila Award Winners

Artist, Laureate, Dr. Mulatu Astatkie, 2017 Bikila Lifetime Achievement Award winner

Ethiopian musician (piano, organ, vibraphone, and percussion), composer, and arranger Mulatu Astatke is a household name in his native country, where he is known as the father of Ethio-jazz, a unique blend of pop, modern jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, Latin rhythms, Caribbean reggae, and Afro-funk.

Born in 1943 in the West Ethiopia city of Jimma, Mulatu studied music in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African graduate of the Berklee College of Music, and went on to work with several acclaimed jazz artists, including a guest spot with Duke Ellington in 1971.

Mulatu’s work brought a renewed focus on instrumentation and rhythm to Ethiopian pop music, shepherding in a golden age in that country’s pop and jazz circles from 1968 to 1974. Mulatu also collaborated with the London-based psyche-jazz configuration the Heliocentrics in 2008 on the album Inspiration Information, Vol. 3, which included updated versions of many of his classic compositions.

He also contributed to the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s 2005 film Broken Flowers, which brought him a whole lot of new fans outside of Ethiopia.

In 2008, Mulatu completed a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship at Harvard University, where he worked on modernization of traditional Ethiopian instruments and premiered a portion of a new opera, The Yared Opera. Mulatu also served as an Abramowitz Artist-in-Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivering lectures and workshops, as well as advising MIT’s Media Lab on creating a modern version of the Krar, a traditional Ethiopian instrument.

On 1 February 2009, Mulatu Astatke performed at the Luckman Auditorium in Los Angeles with a band that included such notable jazz musicians as Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, and Phil Ranelin. He also released a two-disc set to be sold exclusively to passengers of Ethiopian Airlines, with the first disc being a compilation of the different styles from different regions of Ethiopia and the second being studio originals.

On 12 May 2012, Mulatu received an honorary doctor of music degree from the Berklee College of Music.

In 2015 Astatke began recording with long-time collaborators Black Jesus Experience for what would become the album Cradle of Humanity, premiered at the Melbourne Jazz Festival in 2016 and was followed by a tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Artist Mulatu has established Wal Africa Jazz Village Club to teach and mentor the young generation with modern and traditional music. Through this project Artist Mulatu is endeavoring young musical talents of Africans to come together and touch, play and influence the world with deep and rich African music. Most recently Artist Mulatu Astatke has achieved a Laureate title for his lifelong remarkable accomplishments in music.

Bikila Award is honoured and congratulates Artist Laureate Dr. Mulatu Astatke for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Lifetime Achievement Award winner for his distinguished and enduring contributions to Ethiopian jazz and as music composer and arranger on international stages.

Professor Edemariam Tsega, 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner

Professor Edemariam Tsega is a pioneer in Ethiopian medical education. He single-handedly introduced the postgraduate program in Internal medicine in Ethiopia and served his nation with great distinction for over forty years.

Professor Edemariam Tsega had received several honors and awards. To mention a few: he has received first prize with distinction from London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, distinguished scientist award from Addis Ababa University; Blue Nile medal for scientific achievement from government of Ethiopia and Presidents Award for Distinguished Services, Medical staff association, Hamilton Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University. He had several professional and academic appointments.

He also served in the Department of Internal Medicine, faculty of medicine, Addis Ababa University from 1972-1994. He became a professor of medicine in1981. He served as a head of the Department of Internal medicine for more than fifteen years and became dean of the faculty of medicine Addis Ababa University (1992-1994).

In 1995 after he moved to Canada he served as clinical professor of medicine. Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland and he has been Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University. Professor Edemariam Tsega had numerous academic, administrative and committee appointments to the ministry of health of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University, Science and Technology Commission of Ethiopia; Commission for Higher Education Ethiopia and has been a member of several academic and professional associations.

He has authored more than eighty scientific papers in medical journals and book chapters. Since 1994 he has traveled back to Ethiopia on several occasions and participated in programs of visiting professorship in science and sustainable development established by International Council of Scientific Union, the Third World Academy of Sciences, The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization, the Commonwealth Science Council and the Earth Council. His efforts are exemplary to many Ethiopians in the Diaspora to encourage them to participate in international development during this global age.

Bikila Award congratulates Professor Edemariam Tsega for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for his distinguished achievement as a compassionate and dedicated physician and for playing a key leadership role in advancing medical care and education in Ethiopia and Canada.

Dr. Frances Lester, 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner

Dr. Frances Lester worked as a specialist in Internal Medicine at Menelik II and Yekatit 12 Hospital, from1971 to 1994. She was the Head of the Department of Medicine at Yekatit 12 Hospital from 1989-94, appointed as the Medical Consultant of the Minster of Public Health program in Ethiopia.

In 1992, she was involved in clinical teaching of Addis Ababa University. Dr. Lester was a founding member of the Ethiopian Diabetes Association and she was on the executive board of the International Diabetes Federation representing Ethiopia as the delegate of the country for the African Region 1989-94.

She was the author and co-author of 35 published papers about diabetes mellitus in Ethiopian patients, as well as a textbook chapter, mimeographed annual reports of the activities of the clinic prepared for donors, and of the booklet “Diabetes Mellitus: A Manual for Use in Ethiopia” (1982, 2nd Ed. 1991).

She also published about 30 papers about other medical problems in Ethiopia and was a member of the editorial board of the Ethiopian Medical Journal from 1987 - 1994, chairman 1989-91, and assistant chairman 1992-94.

She taught physical diagnosis for a month at the Gondar College of the Medical Sciences in 2007. Back in Canada, she worked as a General Internist in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, 1994-2001, and at Hamilton Health Sciences/McMaster University 2001-2014, with also clinical teaching responsibilities, retiring from full-time medical work in 2010 and completely in 2014. She received the Alumni Achievement Award of her alma mater, Queen’s University, in 1991, and the Medical Staff Association Hamilton Health Sciences President’s award for distinguished service in 2009.

Bikila Award congratulates Dr. Frances Lester for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for her distinguished achievement as a compassionate and dedicated physician and provision of outstanding medical care for the Ethiopian people.

Athlete Miruts Yifter Professional Excellence Award winner, (Posthumously)

Born in Adigrat in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Miruts spent early parts of his youth working in different factories and as a carriage driver. His talent as a long-distance runner was noticed when he joined the Ethiopian Air force.

Miruts was called to the Ethiopian national team for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, but he made his Olympic debut four years later in Munich Olympics where he won a bronze medal in 10,000 metres. In the 1973 All-Africa Games, he won one gold medal in 10,000 metres and Silver in 5000 metres. At the 1st

African Championships in 1979, he won two gold medals in 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Miruts was unable to participate in the 1976 Summer Olympics because his nation boycotted the event. Four years later in Moscow, he made up for his disappointments. In the final of the 10,000 metres, he sprinted into the lead 300 metre from the finish and won by ten meters. Five days later, in the 5,000 metres final, Miruts was boxed in during the last lap.

But with 300 metres to go his Ethiopian teammate, Mohamed Kedir, stepped aside and Yifter again sprinted to victory. Due to his abrupt change in speed when executing his kick to the finish, Miruts acquired the nickname “Yifter the Shifter.”

At Coamo, Puerto Rico on February 6, 1977, Yifter ran a World Best in the half-marathon. Miruts continued to compete into the early 1980s, running on Ethiopia’s gold medal-winning team at the 1982 and 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Miruts died due to respiratory problems at age of 72 on December 22, 2016, in Toronto, Ontario where he had lived since 2000.

Bikila Award congratulates Athlete Miruts Yifter for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner, for his distinguished and legendary achievement in long distance running and as a world-class double Olympic Gold Medal Winner Ethiopian hero.

Enawgaw Mehari, MD – Neurologist Community Service Excellence Award winner

After graduating, Dr. Enawgaw Mehari began practicing neurology with specialties in pain management and neuro-AIDS at the Morehead Clinic and St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Kentucky, where he is now chief of the neurology department.

In 1999, he founded People to People USA (P2P), a non-profit organization that aims to improve healthcare and reduces AIDS in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia.

He has since expanded the services of P2P, including opening the People’s Free Clinic in Morehead, KY, in 2005 for the working poor who have no health insurance — an estimated 500,000 — and a clinic online for anyone anywhere in the world.

P2P has now become international, with headquarters in the US and Ethiopia (a focal point of all the satellites in the world), Canada, Sweden, Finland, Tanzania, Sudan, Somaliland, and Australia. In 1999, chapters were formed in Sweden and Canada, followed by Ethiopia and Finland.

In 2006, Dr. Mehari won a distinguished service award from the Society of Ethiopians Established in the

Diaspora, and in 2007 he was nominated as a CNN Hero, awarded by the cable network to everyday people around the globe who have made a major impact on the world.

In 2008, P2P and Dr. Mehari were officially honored and presented with a Certificate of Recognition by the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for his work in Morehead and Ethiopia.

More than a million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and that number is growing. In collaboration with two other non-profits, the Dawn of Hope and the Association of People with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, P2P USA, and P2P Canada have helped over 400 orphans in Ethiopia through a sponsorship program that covers the immediate needs of a child, including schooling, and supervision by Ethiopian organization staff and volunteers.

Dr. Enawgaw Mehari designed a training workshop for physicians in Africa on the basic concepts of hospice and palliative care philosophy. He also led a group of physicians and nurses from Morehead, experienced in hospice care, to participate as trainers in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

Bikila Award congratulates Dr. Enawgaw Mehari for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Community Service Excellence Award winner for his philanthropic contributions in founding p2p and as a dedicated practicing physician thus improving health care, reduce aids and helping orphans in Ethiopia.

Dr. Fitsum Tariku, 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner

Dr. Fitsum Tariku is a Canada Research Chair in Whole-Building Performance and a Director of Building Science Centre of Excellence at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Vancouver, Canada and adjunct research professor at Western University.

Dr. Tariku holds a Bachelor and a Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Building Engineering. Dr. Tariku is a recipient of various awards including the first ever “Canada Research Chair” award for BCIT; “Housing Studies Achievement Award“ for his Ph.D. thesis from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; “Best Paper Award” from the ‘International Journal of Building Simulation’; “Industrial Support Award” from NRC-IRC and “Applied Research” from BCIT.

Prior to his current position at BCIT, he has worked for a private consulting firm, Ethiopian Airlines and the National Research Council of Canada. At BCIT, Dr. Tariku led the development and approval of the first-of-its-kind graduate program in Building Science in Western Canada and serving as the Director of the program since its operation in 2011. Dr. Tariku has published extensively in Building Science research area and has supervised a number of graduate students. He is an active participant of IEA sponsored international collaborative research projects and plays a prominent role in various local, national and international committees as a Board member.

Dr. Tariku advocates close collaboration between Ethiopian and Canadian post-graduate institutions. In 2016, Dr. Tariku initiated and spearheaded the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology of Addis Ababa University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. As a result of the signed MoU, two students from Ethiopia have been awarded graduate scholarship opportunities and will be joining Dr. Tariku’s research group in September 2017. Dr. Tariku has engaged in promoting and supporting Ethiopian community in Vancouver. In 2015, as a Festival Manager, he took the responsibility of leading the organization of the fifth Ethiopian Summer Festival under the banner ‘Let’s Celebrate Ethiopia’.

Bikila Award congratulates Dr. Fitsum Tariku for being selected as the 2017 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for his distinguished achievement as a scholar and researcher in whole building performance analysis.