Professor Hirut Woldemariam Tetekel obtained her doctorate in linguistics from the Department of African Studies, University of Cologne, Germany. She is currently a professor at the Department of Linguistics and Philology at the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Here she has held several different leadership positions.
Woldemariam's research interests include descriptive linguistics, comparative linguistics and sociolinguistics, with a focus on language policy and the linguistic landscape. She has published over 30 articles in various international journals and books. For a period, Woldemariam served as the Ethiopian government's Minister of Science and Higher Education.
Professor Woldemariam Tetekel works with the Centre for Multilingualism in Society across Lifespan (MultiLing) in Oslo. She partook in the development of the theoretical foundation for the NORHED project «Linguistic Capacity Building - Tools for the inclusive development of Ethiopia» together with professor Janne Bondi Johannessen at MultiLing, and led the Ethiopian part of this project at the University of Addis Abeba. She has published several articles with Professor Elizabeth Lanza, former Centre Director of MultiLing.