Prior to being nominated Minister of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) in October 2018, Dr. Samuel Urkato was the President of the Wolaita Sodo University. Also a PhD candidate of Environment and Development Studies at Addis Ababa University (AAU), he attended PhD exchange study in the Department of Resource and Agricultural Economics at Kangwon National University in South Korea. He also attended a PhD exchange study in the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance of McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston. Moreover, Kurke is an Associate Fellow of IGERT Programs as a member of students in the Horn of Africa. He received his MSc degree in Economics from Mekelle University in 2010 (Development Policy Analysis), and holds a BA degree in Economics from Hawassa University.