Selamawi Haileab Asgedom (born in Adi Wahla, Ethiopia on September 29, 1976) or Mawi Asgedom for short, is an author, public speaker, and a refugee of Ethiopian and Eritrean origin.
Mawi was seven years old when he and his family arrived in the U.S. in 1983, sponsored by World Relief. They had spent the previous three years in a refugee camp in Sudan. He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, Illinois. He graduated with top honors from Harvard University, receiving a degree in American history and giving the commencement address at his graduation in 1999.
While attending Harvard he joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. After university he created a goal-setting program for teens called “The Code”, which he later used to create a book. Asgedom also wrote an autobiography, Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard. It was published in 2001.
He is very popular speaking guest at middle schools, as he likes to get them to participate.
His autobiography, Of Beetles and Angels was selected by Springfield, Pennsylvania as their community book, and 2,378 people read it there.
Day-time television host Oprah Winfrey named her interview of Mr. Asgedom as one of her 20 Unforgettable Momements in October 2005.
Of Beetles and Angels has been chosen as the first-ever Evanston, Illinois, city-wide reading program with events planned throughout the 2007-2008 school year. Mr. Asgedom will visit with middle school readers throughout the year.
Asgedom is currently working on a three-book fantasy series, the first of which he hopes to finish by late April 2007. He has stated that he is very happy with the progress of these books.
I’d love to hear your perspectives on this- leave a comment if you have anything to say…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: africa, asgedom, culture, east africa, ethiopian, habesha, mawi asgedom, oprah, selamawi asgedom
I am inquiring about having Mawi speak to a group of young students in Hawaii. I heard him speak at the Edison Learning Conference and would like to see him here in Hawaii.
I love your blog by the way i will keep coming, but
I am not feeling this guy. Great he went to Harvard. That is a wonderful thing but is he my insparation? I would say no. I would say my only well known Ethiopian insparation is Marcus Samuelsson. He completely inspires me in that he stands up to his African roots even though he was not raised by his parents. MR. Mawi has some personal accomplishments but he does not inspire to be proud of myself as Marcus does. I wish you write about Marcus Samuelsson too. Thanks
Interesting Nuni.
I guess we all find some sort of inspiration in someone. They are both inspiring in their own ways. I know i have written about Marcus Samuelson in the past somewhere in this blog. I will post the link for you.