Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE (3 December 1927 – 16 February 2017) was a British scholar, founding member of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and former professor at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

[6] He began working at the University College of Addis Ababa, and in 1962 was the founding director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

[6] Pankhurst left the Institute and his professorship at what had become the University of Addis Ababa in 1976 after the death of Haile Selassie and the start of the Ethiopian Civil War.

[7] He published numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics related to Ethiopian history.

[6] For his efforts in this, he was given the honorary title "Dejazmach Benkirew" by the Union of Tigraians of North America.