Addis Ababa University has established a notable record for scholarly production in a constantly changing, but never sympathetic, political environment. The imperial regime of Haile Sellassie discouraged liberal and critical thinking, and succeeding Derg tried to bring the university under its ideological and institutional control. The guerrilla movement which overthrew the Derg has proven no more tolerant of intellectual or institutional independence. Ethiopian scholars have had to define the meaning of scholarship and then to carry it out in daunting, shifting, and, at times, hazardous, conditions. This makes their achievements even more worthy of respect.