Haramaya University is one of the oldest higher learning institutions in Ethiopia which has gone through more than six decades of gigantic transformations since its establishment as an Imperial Ethiopian College of Agricultural and Mechanical of Arts (IECAMA) in the early 1950s.
Its foundation was necessitated with the need for modernizing and advancing Ethiopia's agriculture through the production of trained manpower and pragmatic research and extension programs.
To this end, the governments of Ethiopia and the United States of America signed an Agreement under the Point Four Program on May 15, 1952.
This was followed by the establishment of Jimma Agricultural Technical School and IECAMA.
The Jimma School began to function as a source of and interim institution for the College students pending the foundation of an agricultural College.
The Agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the Technical Cooperation Administration of the Government of the United States of America was signed on May 16, 1952, which gave the mandate to Oklahoma State University (OSU) to establish and operate the college, carry out a nationwide system of Agricultural Extension via agricultural research and experimental station.
Subsequently, with the recommendation of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Sellasie I, the envisioned IECAMA was established at its present location, Haramaya, near the historic Lake Haramaya.
The area covers a total of 440 hectares of land.
The establishment involved the construction of physical plant and enormous facilities of the campus including students’ dormitories, the cafeteria, the classrooms, the clinic, farm shop and staff dwellings largely in 1950s.

With the completion of the first phase of construction in 1956, the college began its function with the arrival of its 1954 first batch of 14 students of senior class from Addis Ababa to the emerging Haramaya campus for their final semester.
During its 1956/57 academic year, 11 of these students completed their studies and graduated with a B.Sc.
Degree in General Agriculture.
The formal inauguration of the college with the presence of the Emperor came on 10 January 1958 with the aim of producing trained manpower in field of agriculture.
This was subsequently followed by the commencement of such new B.Sc.
fields of training programs in agriculture as Plant Sciences and Animal Sciences (1960), Agricultural Engineering Technology (1961), and Agricultural Economics and Business (1962).
With these, the enrolment of students started to steadily increase.

Since its inception to 1963, the college's academic and administration wings remained virtually under the mandate and assistance of Oklahoma State University.
Nevertheless, following the appointment of Mekonnen Kibret as the first Ethiopian dean of the college in 1966, the Oklahomans’ role began to be limited to the levels of supervisory and technical assistance.
Following the contractual termination of Oklahoma State University in 1968, the College became a chartered member of Haile Sellasie I University (now Addis Ababa University).
 
Apart from agriculture, the need for trained manpower in other field of studies led to the launching of such additional academic programs in the college as Home Economics (1967), Science Teachers’ Training Program (1978) and Continuing Education Program (1980).
The other milestone in the institutional history of the College of Agriculture was the launching of graduate program in the fields of Plant Sciences, Animal Sciences and Agricultural Economics in 1980.

The College's three decades of functions and advances in terms of teaching, research and extension programs bore remarkable value in venturing in to a new chapter of institutional development in 1985 when the Alemaya College of Agriculture upgraded its status in to a University of Agriculture.
This was followed by the launching of Forestry program in 1987.
 The academic programs of became further diversified towards training qualified manpower in different fields of studies both at undergraduate and graduate programs.
      
The
Haramaya University is one of the oldest higher learning institutions in Ethiopia which has gone through more than six decades of gigantic transformations since its establishment as an Imperial Ethiopian College of Agricultural and Mechanical of Arts (IECAMA) in the early 1950s. Its foundation was necessitated with the need for modernizing and advancing Ethiopia's agriculture through the production of trained manpower and pragmatic research and extension programs. To this end, the governments of Ethiopia and the United States of America signed an Agreement under the Point Four Program on May 15, 1952. This was followed by the establishment of Jimma Agricultural Technical School and IECAMA. The Jimma School began to function as a source of and interim institution for the College students pending the foundation of an agricultural College. The Agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the Technical Cooperation Administration of the Government of the United States of America was signed on May 16, 1952, which gave the mandate to Oklahoma State University (OSU) to establish and operate the college, carry out a nationwide system of Agricultural Extension via agricultural research and experimental station. Subsequently, with the recommendation of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Sellasie I, the envisioned IECAMA was established at its present location, Haramaya, near the historic Lake Haramaya. The area covers a total of 440 hectares of land. The establishment involved the construction of physical plant and enormous facilities of the campus including students’ dormitories, the cafeteria, the classrooms, the clinic, farm shop and staff dwellings largely in 1950s. 
With the completion of the first phase of construction in 1956, the college began its function with the arrival of its 1954 first batch of 14 students of senior class from Addis Ababa to the emerging Haramaya campus for their final semester. During its 1956/57 academic year, 11 of these students completed their studies and graduated with a B.Sc. Degree in General Agriculture. The formal inauguration of the college with the presence of the Emperor came on 10 January 1958 with the aim of producing trained manpower in field of agriculture. This was subsequently followed by the commencement of such new B.Sc. fields of training programs in agriculture as Plant Sciences and Animal Sciences (1960), Agricultural Engineering Technology (1961), and Agricultural Economics and Business (1962). With these, the enrolment of students started to steadily increase.
Since its inception to 1963, the college's academic and administration wings remained virtually under the mandate and assistance of Oklahoma State University. Nevertheless, following the appointment of Mekonnen Kibret as the first Ethiopian dean of the college in 1966, the Oklahomans’ role began to be limited to the levels of supervisory and technical assistance. Following the contractual termination of Oklahoma State University in 1968, the College became a chartered member of Haile Sellasie I University (now Addis Ababa University).  
Apart from agriculture, the need for trained manpower in other field of studies led to the launching of such additional academic programs in the college as Home Economics (1967), Science Teachers’ Training Program (1978) and Continuing Education Program (1980). The other milestone in the institutional history of the College of Agriculture was the launching of graduate program in the fields of Plant Sciences, Animal Sciences and Agricultural Economics in 1980.
The College's three decades of functions and advances in terms of teaching, research and extension programs bore remarkable value in venturing in to a new chapter of institutional development in 1985 when the Alemaya College of Agriculture upgraded its status in to a University of Agriculture. This was followed by the launching of Forestry program in 1987.  The academic programs of became further diversified towards training qualified manpower in different fields of studies both at undergraduate and graduate programs.       
The
Haramaya University