Jimma University was founded on the amalgamation of the the Jimma Institute of Health Science and the Jimma College of Agriculture in the 1980’s. Jimma University has a history of international collaboration which has set the ground work for it to be a truly global institution. With international partners from the University of Oklahoma in the United States, Jimma University’s parent institution the Jimma College of Agriculture was founded to address matters of agriculture in the 1960’s.  Jimma University has hosted partners from all around the world for decades. Such long term partners include foreign teaching staff from India and the Philippines, Cuban doctors and development professionals, American and European doctors and public health professionals, and Asian development partners from South Korea, Japan and China. Foreign partners often regard Jimma University as a unique, yet little known major institution of research and higher education. A variety of foreign partners, scholars, and researchers have successfully published articles, engaged in globally relevant scientific research, and have worked on Ph.D dissertations at Jimma University. Today, Jimma University has numerous Memorandums of Understanding’s with a variety of partners from around the world. Jimma University emphasizes that the power of collaboration is greatest when there is the most diverse set of international partners. In light of this, today Jimma University has partnerships from various African, eastern and western European, Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, East Asian, Latin American, and North American partners.