As an engineer from Ethiopia, Dr. Arega Yirdaw spent 20 years in the United States honing his skills at a series of major corporations. But he never lost sight of an even bigger goal – building the business and education infrastructure of his home country. Now the CEO of Ethiopia’s MIDROC Technology Group, he leads his nation’s largest gold mine, its first private university and 15 other entities. He’s built one of Ethiopia’s most respected companies — and is the recipient of the Center for Creative Leadership’s 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award. He accepted the award at a ceremony in Addis Ababa on Jan. 24, 2011.
Petroleum industry