1933–2023
U.S. political scientist and Ethiopia specialist
Under the Mengistu government he worked on asylum and amnesty cases for emigres, helping dozens avoid torture and death; in 2018 he received the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Honour.
American political scientist and Ethiopia specialist who was professor and then professor emeritus at Oklahoma State University. Sources disagree on when he joined the Peace Corps in Addis Ababa: the obituary and the Ethiopian Crown Council say 1963, publisher and library biographies say 1964. He later directed the Educational Resources Center in New Delhi, was dean of continuing education at Austin College and a senior visiting fellow at the University of Tulsa, and taught at OSU from 1988 to 2008. Under the Mengistu government he worked on asylum and amnesty cases for Ethiopian emigres, helping dozens avoid torture and death, and in 2018 he received the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Honour. His books include Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State (1999) and The Lion of Judah in the New World (2011).
Also known as: Theodore M. Vestal · Ted Vestal · Theodore Merrill Vestal
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1933Born in Sherman, Texas
- 1963 or 1964Joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served as Associate Director in Addis Ababa (dates disputed between sources)
- after 1974Advocacy on Ethiopian emigre asylum and amnesty cases
- 1988–2008Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University
- 1999Published Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State
- 2011Published The Lion of Judah in the New World
- 2018Awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Honour
- 2023Died at the age of 89
Related historical events
Advocacy for Ethiopian émigrés under the Mengistu government
Alongside his scholarship on Ethiopia, Vestal advocated for the rights of Ethiopian émigrés. His obituary says that during the Mengistu government he worked on asylum and amnesty cases, helping dozens of Ethiopians avoid torture and death. The account describes his activity as assistance to émigrés but does not identify individual cases or specify the legal procedures involved. In 2018, the Ethiopian Crown Council recognized his work in Ethiopian studies and service to Ethiopia by awarding him the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Honour.