When Jickssa Gemechu, Ph.D., left Ethiopia, 他没有想到，13年后，他才回到家乡，见到了大部分家人，并参观了母校.

但这正是他最近回国一个月时发生的事情.

这位牛津大学基础医学研究系的副教授花时间与家人叙旧. 他还自愿在他年轻时就读过的同一所学校任教两周.

葛楚格在这个月里做了很多事情，但有一个时刻非常引人注目.

“我和一些学生交谈，他们告诉我，他们想从我的经历中学习……他们说，‘你们几年前和我们一样，现在你们在一个不同的地方. 我们视你为榜样，希望从你的经验中学习。.

葛梅楚说，这让他有时间反思自己的人生之路——人生的过山车——并根据这些起起落落以及他是如何成为公开大学商学院一员的，提供建议. 

“It was emotional,” he said. “I can still see the faces of the students…it was great.”

‘I knew I had to study medicine’

Gemechu出生在埃塞俄比亚，在距离亚的斯亚贝巴77英里的安博镇长大. 他在亚的斯亚贝巴大学获得生物学学士学位和解剖学硕士学位, which is in the African country’s political capital.

2004年，葛梅楚加入哈瓦萨大学医学与健康科学学院. 这所医学院也在埃塞俄比亚，距离首都约140英里.

虽然他之前在不同级别做过一些教学工作, 哈瓦萨大学是他第一次作为一名全职教员在医学院教书.

Teaching was something to which he had always been drawn. 葛梅楚说，他的父亲一生从事教育和行政工作，并在儿子小的时候让他从事不同的工作.

葛梅楚说:“他会让我在他或家人面前作证。. “我总是问他，他是如何准备他正在完成的不同任务的……教学, public speaking, administration, and so on.”

戈梅楚说，在高中时，他也爱上了医学.

His father also factored into that interest.

“He had asthma and was suffering,” said Gemechu. “我们讨论了原因，是什么使它变得严重，如何控制它. 当我看到他无法呼吸，挣扎着，药物给了他很大的缓解, it touched my heart.”

“I knew I had to study medicine and help others,” he added.

‘Ideal for me’

Gemechu worked at Hawassa University for five years. During that time and while he was a postgraduate student, 他在几个非洲国家组织的IBRO神经科学会议上介绍了他的研究成果. During one of the presentations, 他遇到了一位神经科学教授，这位教授喜欢他的工作，建议他申请博士学位.D. program at the University of Verona in Italy.

葛梅楚说，他通过了“激烈的竞争”，并被录取了. He received a full scholarship. He earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience. (And he still can speak Italian.)

他在维罗纳大学(University of Verona)做博士后，后来又有机会在底特律韦恩州立大学(Wayne State University)做博士后. His wife already was in the U.S.于是，他接受了这份工作，并在大约一年半后，于2016年初加入了OUWB.

“OUWB has been ideal for me,” he said.

“I’ve had the opportunities to teach, pursue scholarly activities and research, and get involved in different levels of service.”

“I feel like I’ve grown up with the school,” he added.

At the OUWB Honors Convocation in May 2024, 葛梅楚被授予基础医学教学优秀奖.

他说:“我很荣幸能在公开商学院的教学工作中获得认可。.

Just two days earlier, he had returned from Ethiopia.

‘I was so happy’

离开埃塞俄比亚后，Gemechu一直与7000多英里外的国家保持联系. 

他通过亚的斯亚贝巴大学的同事与外界保持联系. Gemechu has co-authored several articles with them.

Looking to give back to the school where it all started, 他问他4月份在那里时是否有机会做志愿者.

“他们说他们正在拼命寻找能帮助他们教授中枢神经系统模块的人,” he said. “他们给我发了一份模块描述，我告诉他们我可以在两周内完成.”

在被任命为兼职教授后，他得以在这所大学任教.

葛梅楚说，这段经历不仅为他与师生在未来项目上的合作创造了潜力，也让他感到“强烈的满足感”和感激之情.

“I was so happy to do that,” he said.

在埃塞俄比亚的另外两个星期里，Gemechu和他的家人在一起. Among other things, the family went to Wenchi Lake, 一个美丽的火山口湖，位于该国首都以西约100英里处. 

说起这次拜访，葛楚笑了，因为这些年除了母亲几次来访外, he hadn’t seen any of his brothers, sisters, and other family members.

他说:“他们太高兴了……我无法形容我母亲对此有多高兴。. “The time I spent with family was so great.”

他也“非常感激”OUWB允许他回到埃塞俄比亚一个月.

“The support I got from the administration was so great, I would like to thank them for giving me this opportunity,” he added.

欲了解更多信息，请联系Andrew Dietderich，营销作家，OUWB，在 [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.