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DREW GILPIN FAUST took office as Harvard University’s 28th president on July 1, 2007. A historian of the U.S. Civil War and the American South, Faust is also the Lincoln Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She previously served as founding dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2001-2007).

Before coming to Radcliffe, Faust was the Annenberg Professor of History and director of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of six books, including This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (January, 2008), which was awarded the 2009 Bancroft Prize, the New-York Historical Society 2009 American History Book Prize, and recognized by The New York Times as one of the “Ten Best Books of 2008.”

Faust’s honors include awards in 1982 and 1996 for distinguished teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994 and the American Philosophical Society in 2004. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr in 1968, magna cum laude with honors in history, and master’s (1971) and doctoral (1975) degrees in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania.
 

The Honorable Jamil Mahuad was born Jorge Jamil Mahuad Witt on July 29, 1949, in Loja, Ecuador. Mr. Mahuad has had a very distinguished academic and political career over the past 30 years and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

 Mr. Mahuad was President of the Republic of Ecuador from 1998 to 2000. During his presidency, he pledged to bring fiscal discipline and political stability to Ecuador and instituted economic reform policies that focused on reducing government spending and improving tax collection mechanisms. Further, Mr. Mahuad was a signatory to the historic peace accord resolving decades-long border dispute between Ecuador and Peru.

 A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Mr. Mahuad has held many prominent positions including Mayor of Quito, Ecuador (two terms; Aug. 1992 - Aug. 1998); Diputado (Representative) to Ecuadorian National Congress (two terms; 1986-88 & 1990-92); President of the Christian Democratic Party of Ecuador (two terms; 1987-88 & 1991-93); Minister of Labor, Ecuador (1983-84); Co-founder and Senior Advisor, International Negotiation Program at Harvard; International Leader (Board Member, The Abraham Path Initiative (2008-Present); Board Member, The Medici Summit: Where Business and Innovation Intersect (2008-present); Global Advisory Council Member, Mediators Beyond Borders (2008-Present); and Vice-Chair, Ibero-American Capital Cities Association (1993-97).

 Mr. Mahuad received a Bachelor Degree in Political and Social Sciences from the Catholic University of Ecuador (1973), a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School (1989) and a Doctor in Law from the Catholic University of Ecuador (1978). Mr. Mahuad has received many honorary degrees including Universidad de San Marcos, Lima, Perú (1999), Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Perú (1999), Universidad de San Agustín, Arequipa, Perú (1999), Universidad San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador (1999) and Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, Ecuador (1999).

His Excellency Ghassan Tueni was born in Lebanon on January 5, 1926. Mr. Tueni received his BA in Philosophy in 1945 from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a Master’s in Political Science in 1947 from Harvard University. In 2005, Mr. Tueni received an honorary doctorate from the AUB.

Mr. Tueni has had a prolific political career over the past six decades, and has held numerous distinguished posts, including Member of Parliament (1951–1957); Deputy Speaker of the House (1953–1957); Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Information and National Education (1970–1971); Emissary of the President of the Republic of Lebanon to the United States of America (1976–1977); Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations (1977–1982); and Personal Diplomatic Counselor to the President of the Republic of Lebanon (1982-1985).

Among his many academic accomplishments, Mr. Tueni was a lecturer at AUB (1947–1948) and a Member of its Board of Trustees (1988-2002); co-founder and lecturer at the Lebanese Academy of Law and Political Science (ALBA)(1951–1954); first President of the newly-founded University of Balamand (1990-1993); and is currently a Trustee Emeritus of the AUB.

Mr. Tueni has received many regional and international awards, including "Grand Officier de l'Ordre National du Cèdre" (Lebanon 1984); the "Order of the Star" from the late King Hussein (Jordan 1987); Détenteur des Insignes d’Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (France 2005); and "Commander of the Order of Civil Merit " (Spain 2009).

A prolific writer, Mr. Tueni has had numerous publications including Laissez vivre mon peuple! (Let my people live!); Peace-keeping Lebanon; Une Guerre pour les autres (A war for others); Un siècle pour rien (A century for nothing); and Enterrer la haine et la vengeance (Let’s bury hate and revenge).

Nur Yalman is Research Professor of Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Harvard University; Senior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows; and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Association of Social Anthropologists of Great Britain, and of the Council on Foreign Relations of the USA.

Professor Yalman is a member of the Board of Trustees of Koc University, and also of Robert College, both of Istanbul, Turkey, and other numerous institutions.

He was the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, and later also the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

Association of Turkish American Scientists: Washington, DC., March 2002, Special Medal for Scholarly and Scientific Contributions

Keynote Speaker for the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Japanese Ethnological Society, Osaka.
Member of Special Commission, Create 21, of Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
Honorary Doctorate, Soka University, Japan 1993
Medal of Highest Honors, Soka University, Japan, 1992
Visiting Professor, Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, 1967
Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall, Cambridge, England, 1966-67

Professor Yalman received his B.A. from Robert College in Istanbul; B.A., M.A., Ph.D. from Cambridge University in the UK, with an additional M.A. from Harvard University. He has been Bye-Fellow of Peterhouse at Cambridge University; Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Chicago and Professor of Social Anthropology and of Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University since 1972. He has done fieldwork in Sri Lanka, India, Iran and Turkey. He is familiar with the Balkans, the Arab Middle East, Central and South East Asia, and Japan. He has taught in many European countries. Professor Yalman speaks French, German, Turkish, some Persian, Sinhalese, Italian and Arabic.

Professor Yalman has taught two large core courses at Harvard: (Foreign Cultures 17) "Thought and Change in the Contemporary Middle East" and (Social Analysis 36) "Religion and Modernization: Cultural Revolutions and Secularism." He has also taught (Anthropology 153) "Structuralism and Anthropology," (Anthropology 279) "Seminar on Kinship", Seminar on Sovereignty, Ethnicity and Nationalism, and the seminar for Social Theory Main currents in Anthropological Thought� for Anthropology Graduate Students.

His publications include: A Passage to Peace: Global Solutions from East and West (with Daisaku Ikeda), (also in Japanese as Kyono Sekai, Ashitano Bunmei); also in Chinese.
Under the Bo Tree, University of California Press, "On the Purity of Women in the Castes of Ceylon and Malabar," "Land Disputes in Eastern Turkey," and some recent papers on Religion, Politics, Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Secularism.

Note also:
Islam and Secularism - Plato and Khomeini: Questions concerning the Open Society and its Enemies in The Future of Secularism, Oxford University Press. 2007

Religion and Civilization in Dialogue of Civilizations, eds. Tehranian, M.and Chappell, D.W., I.B.Tauris:London, 2002

3 January 2001, Doha, Qatar: "Perspectives for Peace in West Asia", Conference on Regional Security. Published as "West Asia from Mansur to Saddam" in Bridging a Gulf: Peacebuilding in West Asia, ed. M. Tehranian, I.B.Tauris: London, 2003.

8 January 2001, Teheran, Iran: Conference on Culture and Information Technology, "Prospects for a Dialogue of Civilizations: Iran, Turkey and the West".

"Some Observations on Secularism in Islam: or the Cultural Revolution in Turkey," Daedalus, 1973; reprinted in Post-Traditional Societies, ed., S.N. Eisenstadt, Norton, 1972, 139-69.
"On Secularism and Its Critics: Notes on Turkey, India and Iran," Contributions to Indian Sociology (n.s.) 25, 2. Sage Publications, New Delhi, London, 1991.

"The Raw: the Cooked: Nature: Culture: Observations on Le Cru et le Cuit", in The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism, ed., E. Leach, Tavistock Publications, London, 1967.

"The Ascetic Buddhist Monks of Ceylon", Ethnology, July 1962; also in Cultural Anthropology, ed., Hammond, Macmillan; reprinted in Gods and Rituals, ed., Middleton, 1967.

His recent writing includes a review of Chinese Death Rituals in Singapore, by Tong Chee Kiong, London and New York: Routledge, Curzon, 2004.

Professor Yalman's special interests include contemporary social theory and theorists, the anthropology of religion with special reference to Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism; social and political conditions in South and Central Asia, and the Middle East; political and intellectual developments in other parts of Asia including Japan.
 

Dr. Sameh El-Saharty works as Senior Health Policy Specialist in the South Asia Region, at the World Bank in Washington, DC. He is a Medical Doctor graduated from Cairo University and holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Harvard School of Public Health in International Health Policy and Management and a Master of Sciences in Public Health from the Military Medical Academy in Egypt. Before joining the Bank, he held several positions with international donors, academic institutions, and consulting firms such as USAID, UNFPA, Harvard University, the American University in Cairo, and Pathfinder International.

Dr. El-Saharty has extensive experience for over 25 years working as researcher, technical advisor, and international consultant on maternal and child health, health management, health insurance, and health sector reform programs in more than 15 countries in the MENA region, Africa, South Asia, and in the US.

His recent work has focused on "health systems" with particular interest in "health service delivery" and "improving the performance” of health sector organizations. He authored and led the development of several health policy notes, strategy papers, technical assistance studies, and analytical reports. His most recent work includes: "Improving Health Service Delivery in Developing Countries: From Evidence to Action" published by the World Bank in 2009. His other work includes “Public Health Challenges in the Middle East and North Africa” (The Lancet), “Egypt’s Health Sector Reform and Financing Review”, “The Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities”, “Public Expenditures Reviews” (Yemen, Egypt), “Yemen: Strengthening, Integrating and Sustaining Public Health Programs”, “Yemen: Health Sector Strategy”, “Egypt’s: Health Policy Note”, “Tunisia: Health Sector Study”, “Tunisia: Improving the performance of public health service delivery”, “Morocco’s Decentralization of Health Services”, and “Oman’s Cost Effectiveness of Health Services”.

Dr. El-Saharty is the President of Harvard Arab Alumni Association and Board Member of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Arab Club. He also served on the Board of numerous organizations including the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
 

Dr. May Al-Dabbagh is the Director of the Gender and Public Policy Program, lecturer, and research fellow at DSG where she has taught and published on variety of topics including cross-cultural and social/organizational psychology; theory and method in assessing the relationship between the self and context; cultural and gender differences in leadership, decision-making, and job-related outcomes. Dr. Al-Dabbagh is also the faculty advisor on women and leadership programs at DSG.

Since 2007, Dr. Al-Dabbagh has been a research associate with Harvard University’s Dubai Initiative and is currently heading a multiyear research project on “Intersections between culture and gender in negotiation” which focuses on gender differences in job negotiations in the Gulf Cooperative Council Countries.

Dr. Al-Dabbagh is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Gender Gap, the International Association for Conflict Management, the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and the Academy of Management. She has publications in Arabic and English in both local and regional media outlets.

In 2006, Dr. Al-Dabbagh earned a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford. She earned her B.A. degree in psychology from Harvard University, where she graduated in 1999 with high honors.

Dr. Al-Dabbagh has been an active board member with the Harvard Arab Alumni Association and has organized and chaired a variety of public forums in Saudi Arabia and the GCC in her capacity as the Regional Director for the Middle East. She has recently been appointed to the board of the Harvard Arab Alumni Association as the Regional Director for the Middle East and Africa region.

Before joining Qatar Petroleum and its Board of Directors Department in September 2005 as Media and Research Strategist in the Office of HE Qatar’s Deputy Premier, Minister of Energy & Industry, Naji Abi-Aad, an Austrian citizen born in Lebanon, was acting since 1999 as managing director of Econergy, a Beirut-based research centre aiming to carry out studies and reports on the economic and energy development in the East Mediterannean and the Gulf. He was also engaged since 1988 as Senior Advisor for the Middle East within the French-based Observatoire Mediterraneen de l’Energie (OME).

Dr Abi-Aad, who studied at the American University of Beirut before been awarded a Ph.D. degree in Energy Economics from Grenoble University in France, was based in Vienna between 1983 and 1999, before moving back to Beirut. During his 27 years of experience, he had been involved in extensive consultations, conferences and studies, particularly on oil and gas in the Middle East, their resources and supply prospects.

Dr Abi-Aad has authored over 80 reports and studies on Middle East energy issues, as well as a book on security of petroleum supply from the region.
 

Mr. Ashok Aram joined Abraaj after a distinguished 15-year career at Deutsche Bank which took him to Singapore, Frankfurt, New York and London. He was a founding member of the bank’s telecommunications advisory and financing practice in Asia, and a member of the team which acquired Bankers Trust in the United States in 1998.

From 2001 to 2004, he was Head of Deutsche Bank’s Global Banking Division, responsible for the Corporate Banking & Structured Finance businesses, with operations in more than 60 countries. He was later involved in the successful build-up of the Global Principal Finance and Structured Credit Trading business of the bank. He joined the board of Abraaj in 2004, representing Deutsche’s stake in Abraaj. Immediately before joining Abraaj Mr. Aram was Managing Director with Deutsche in London as Head of Equity Capital Markets, Debt Capital Markets, Corporate Coverage and Sales in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa. He serves on the Board of companies in India and the United States, and earlier served on the boards of Deutsche Bank Spain and Deutsche Bank Poland. Born in India, Mr. Aram completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Telecommunications at the College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai. He went on to graduate studies in International Business & Comparative Culture at Sophia University, Tokyo.

He is a trustee of Shanti Ashram, a development foundation in Coimbatore, India, and has been involved with the Herbert Quandt Foundation, Germany, and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Ashok is married, and speaks English, German, Japanese, Hindi and Tamil.
 

Professor Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad, a leading Qatari educator for nearly three decades, has occupied numerous and prestigious positions in teaching, administration, and research, assuming the presidency of the University of Qatar in 2003. Prior to that date, she served the University of Qatar as Vice President for Research and Community Development (2000–2003), Head of the Department of Foundations of Education (1992–1995), and as a member of the University Council (1986–1989; 1998–2004).

Professor Al-Misnad received her undergraduate training at the University of Qatar where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education (1977), and subsequently a Diploma in Education in 1978. She then enrolled in doctoral studies at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom where she was granted the Doctor of Philosophy in Education in 1984. She was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Durham University in 2008.

Professor Al-Misnad has occupied and continues to assume numerous leading positions at regional and international educational institutions. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo and the United Nations University Council and was a contributing member to the UNESCO’s World Conference on Higher Education Applicability.

Hatoon al-Fassi, born in Jeddah 1964 and originated from Makkah, is a historian specialist in women’s history at History department, King Saud University, Riyadh and a Visiting Professor to Qatar University, International Affairs Dept. She was educated in Saudi Arabia and UK where she received her Ph.D in 2000 from University of Manchester.

Her interest, devotion, research and action cover Women's history: ancient and Islamic, modern women's issues and Islamic rights, women's religious rights, history of the Arabian Peninsula & human rights.

She expresses her opinion in her writings as a columnist (currently writes in al-Riyadh national newspaper, in Arabic).

Dr AL FASSI has three published books and many other articles in Arabic and English. The most recently: Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia: Nabataea. Published by Archaeopress, Oxford, 2007 (in English).

She received recently a French award and decorated a Knight in the Order of Academic Palms ‘Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques’ that dates back to Napoleon Bonaparte himself in 1808.

She speaks Arabic, English, French and German.

She is the mother of two: Ajwaad, a boy, (5) & Zein al-Sharaf, a girl, (3). She lives in Riyadh with her husband Dr Abdelaziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg, Minister Plenipotentiary, Director General of Economic International Relations at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Dr. Hanan Al-Kuwari is Hamad Medical Corporation Managing Director.

Dr. Hanan holds numerous board and executive appointments including Member of Supreme Council for Family Affairs, Member of Board of Governors of Doha Institute for Family Studies, Chair of the Qatar Biobank Project Steering Committee, Member of Sidra Executive Steering Committee, and Member of JCI Middle East Advisory Council.

Prior to that she held various positions in HMC – Qatar, WHO – Geneva and Reuters – Geneva, and was Vice Chairperson of the HMC Board of Directors.

Dr. Hanan holds a PhD in Health Care Management from the Center for Public Policy and Evaluation, Department of Government, at Brunel University, UK and a Masters and Bachelors in Health Care Management.
 

Dr Sameera Al-Tuwaijri is an international expert on health policy and management. A physician by formal training, she also has an extensive experience in public health both academically and professionally.

Dr Al-Tuwaijri started her career as a practicing clinician in Saudi Arabia, her home country. After completing her academic training in public health, she worked for different international organizations like the Global Forum for Health Research, United Nations Populations Fund and the International Labor Organization, mainly on health systems and health policy. Her work involved health policy setting issues, health reform, the Millennium Development Goals and health attainment as part of the social protection concept.

Ghassan Barrage is a Senior Executive Advisor and coordinates Booz & Company’s practice development activities in Saudi Arabia. He has over 25 years of consulting experience in strategic planning, organization development, and information systems, in a broad range of industries. Over the years, he lead and participated in a broad variety of assignments related to various industries in Europe and the Middle East, including privatization, strategic, and organization restructuring programs in the sectors of electricity, water, mining, ,automotive, consumer goods, petrochemicals,; education, transportation, and others. in addition to advising Middle East public sector organizations on major economic development programs. Mr. Barrage holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Farouk El-Baz is Director of the Center for Remote Sensing and Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University. He is a veteran of NASA’s Apollo program where he served as secretary of the lunar landing site selection committee and chairman of the Apollo astronaut training in orbital observations and photography. He is renowned as a pioneer in applying satellite image data in desert studies, particularly for groundwater exploration. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation. He serves on the Higher Council of Science and Technology of Egypt. Among his honors: NASA’s Scientific Achievement Meal, Egypt’s Order of Merit – First Class, the Nevada Medal, and the World Water Masters Award of the International Desalination Association.

 

Prior to co-founding Citadel Capital in 2004, Mr. El-Khazindar was Executive Director of Investment Banking at EFG-Hermes, where he advised on key transactions including the IPOs of Orascom Construction Industries, Ezz Steel and Orascom Telecom. In 1999, he was on secondment to Goldman Sachs in London, where he advised European firms on strategic options and M&A transactions. Mr. El-Khazindar sits on the boards of leading regional companies including ASEC Holding and El Sewedy Cables. He is the Chairman of the Capital Markets and Investment Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and a board member of the Egyptian Capital Markets Association. He holds a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Fadi Ghandour is Founder & CEO of Aramex, a position he has held for the past 26 years. Aramex, a global provider of logistics and transportation solutions, was the first company from the Arab world to go public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. After five years of successful trading, Aramex returned to private ownership until June 2005 when it went public again on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Ghandour is a Founding Partner in Maktoob.com, the world’s largest Arab On-Line community, is a member of the Board of Abraaj Capital, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Between 2003 and 2005, he was the Middle East and North Africa Area Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Ghandour is actively involved with community and NGO work. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jordan River Foundation, Chairman of “National Microfinance Bank” in Jordan, and founder of Ruwwad, a region-wide sustainable community development initiative.

Ghandour passionately believes in corporate sustainability as the way of the future, and lead Aramex to release the first sustainability report in the Arab World. He is committed to creating awareness about sustainable business practices in the region, and engaging the private sector to play a leading role in the development of their communities.

Ghandour is married to Rula Atalla and has two sons, Bassel and Fares.

Habib is the founder and CEO of Yamli.com an Arabic search engine and transliteration technology whose goal is to empower the Arabic language on the web. He is also the founder of YallaStartup an NGO that aims to foster early stage entrepreneurship in the Middle East.

In 2009, the World Economic Forum recognized Habib as a Young Global Leader, he also made it to the "Thirty under 30" list by ArabianBusiness.

Habib is very active with the entrepreneurial and NGO communities. He co-founded INLET (International Network of Lebanese Entrepreneurs and Technologists), to promote technology and Entrepreneurship in Lebanon, he also founded Relief Lebanon to support relief operations during the July 2006 war in Lebanon.

Habib is currently advising several young entrepreneurs and startups from the MENA region and often speaks about early stage development and entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor of Computer and Communication Engineering from the American University in Beirut and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Ismail is the managing director of its Middle East office located in Dubai. Dr. Ismail is a physician with 20 years of international experience in hospital accreditation, healthcare quality management, performance improvement and development of human resources for health. His contributions in postgraduate quality education and training are well recognized. As an adjunct professor at George Mason University, School of Health and Human Services, he teaches a variety of quality courses for the certificate in quality and outcomes management. Dr. Ismail is a WHO consultant in accreditation and health care quality. In 2006, he was appointed as Strategic Planning Advisor to the Minister of Health in UAE to develop the new strategy of the health sector. As a quality consultant, he assists healthcare facilities through the accreditation process. His experience in these areas has extended from USA to the Middle East. For four years, he was as a quality consultant to Inova Health System, the largest health system in Northern Virginia. As a faculty at Johns Hopkins University and Director of JHPIEGO’s Asia/Near East/Europe Regional office. While he was employed with USAID in Cairo, Egypt, he implemented the first National Quality Improvement Program in the Family Planning Clinics in Egypt

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak has been with EWS-WWF since its inception in 2001, establishing the local EWS office and its partnership with WWF. As Managing Director, she oversees all projects undertaken by EWS-WWF, leading on strategic engagement on sustainable development, ensuring financial viability and implementation in accordance with WWF International policies and standards, taking into account plans and recommendations as approved by the EWS Board.
 

In her capacity, she plays a key role in forging partnerships and agreements with government authorities in the UAE, conceptualizing the delivery of campaign and communication strategies, documentation of local knowledge and its use in environmental decision making, as well as developing and maintaining relations with businesses and industries.
One of the projects Razan is directly involved in is the Coral Reef Conservation Project which uses latest technology and scientific thought to conserve and protect the unique and threatened coral reef habitats in the Arabian Gulf.

Prior to joining EWS-WWF, she was the Strategic Planning Manager for environmental government authority in Abu-Dhabi, Environmental Agency (EAD). Her work involved designing and execution of an evaluation and monitoring system for the agencies’ programs and to advise and conduct research on the UAE's role in implementing international environmental conventions.

Razan holds a MSc in Public Understanding of Environmental Change from the University College London, UK, where her dissertation documented and analyzed the traditional laws of the sea (al urf) used by tribes to govern fisheries in Abu-Dhabi during the pre-oil era. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies and International Relations from Tufts University, Medford, USA

Razan has also been active in the cultural and educational scene in the UAE where she is a board advisor to the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation; and advisory council member for TAWTEEN- a federal initiative that aims to promote the employment of UAE citizens in the private sector.

Razan is also a board member to the African Wildlife Foundation, the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort in association with the San Diego Zoo, the Zayed Future Energy Prize and is the managing director of the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund- an international fund dedicated to supporting conservationist across the globe.
 

Hatem Samman is the Director and Lead Economist of the Ideation Center— Booz & Company’s leading Think Tank for the Middle East. Previously, he held the position of Vice President at a major Saudi Bank and was the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Planning at the Saudi Telecommunications Company. He was a Sr. Fellow at the University of Minnesota and a consultant for the World Bank.

Dr. Samman holds a BA in Political Science and Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD in Political Economy and Public Policy from the University of Southern California. He has several academic publications in the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, the International Journal of Applied Economics, and the Economic Research Forum. In addition to Ideation Center publications, Dr. Samman published numerous articles on various socioeconomic topics relevant to the Middle East in the Financial Times and Pan Arab newspapers and magazines.
 

Peyvand Khaleghian is Director of Health Policy and Strategy with the Dubai Health Authority. His responsibilities at the DHA include strategy, policy, planning and market intelligence for the Dubai health sector as well as investment promotion and public-private partnerships. Dr. Khaleghian joined the Dubai Health Authority in late 2008 from the World Bank, where he spent eight years leading strategic advisory and project finance assignments in a variety of fast-growing economies in Europe and Asia.

A New Zealand national, Dr. Khaleghian holds B.S. and M.B.Ch.B. degrees from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and a Ph.D. in Health Policy from The Johns Hopkins University.
 

Energy Allied International’s Regional Vice President, Tamer M. Nassar, is a business executive with considerable experience in the energy sector, with particular emphasis on the Middle East and Africa.

After spending several years with a New York City law firm, Mr. Nassar entered the oil and gas industry in 2000 as in-house Legal Counsel to Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil services company. Based in Dubai, Mr. Nassar was responsible for managing the company’s legal affairs (including negotiating high dollar value client contracts), mitigating risk and being an integral member of the business development team over a territory extending from Egypt to India. Mr. Nassar worked closely with the Regional Vice Presidents to ensure the continued profitability of operations in the Middle East, with annual gross operating income in the multi-billion dollar range.

In 2004, Mr. Nassar joined WesternGeco, the world’s largest seismic company, as Senior Legal Counsel. Based in Houston, Mr. Nassar was responsible for managing the company’s legal affairs in North and South America, including conducting several considerable high dollar value acquisition and divestiture transactions. Throughout his post, Mr. Nassar also served on the company’s Core Management Board as advisor to the company President with respect to strategic planning and business development.

In 2006, Mr. Nassar joined Energy Allied International as Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Africa regions, based in Cairo. As Regional VP, Mr. Nassar is responsible for identification, development and implementation of high dollar value energy infrastructure projects ranging from petrochemical plants, to refineries, power plants and large scale biofuels production projects.

Mr. Nassar is fluent in English, French and Arabic with basic knowledge of Spanish and Italian.

Mr. Rashid has over nine years of experience in corporate finance and private equity.

Currently, Mr. Rashid is a member of the Executive Committee and part of the investment team of Riyada Enterprise Development, a member of the Abraaj Group. Mr. Rashid joined Abraaj in 2006 as a member of the investment team. He has worked on some of Abraaj’s landmark private equity transactions including the US$ 500 million investment in EFG Hermes and the US$ 102 million investment in Air Arabia. He was also part of the core team that developed and launched Riyada Enterprise Development, Abraaj’s SME platform.

Prior to joining Abraaj, Mr. Rashid worked at Spring Capital Partners, a U.S. Small Business Administration-sponsored private equity fund, where he executed 8 SME transactions. Mr. Rashid’s experience also includes McKinsey & Co, where he assisted a GCC-based development bank on refining its SME strategy and assisted a leading commercial bank in the GCC on developing a strategy for launching a mid-market regional private equity fund. Mr. Rashid started his career at General Electric.
Mr. Rashid holds an MBA degree from The Wharton School and an MA degree from The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BBA degree (with honors) from The George Washington University. Mr. Rashid is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and was awarded a research grant to study the Egyptian private equity industry.

Mr. Rashid is based in Dubai.
 

Wael holds dual Lebanese and Canadian nationality. He has a Masters in Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Canada and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Apart from an investment banking stint with Goldman Sachs in New York, Wael has spent his career in the Royal Dutch Shell Group and has worked in each of Shell's core business units: Exploration and Production (EP), Gas and Power (GP), and Downstream.

Wael started his Shell career in 1997 as a field engineer in Petroleum Development Oman and followed that up with Process and Project Engineering roles. He was then posted to London as the Middle East and North Africa upstream business adviser working on EP and GP opportunities in the region. After completing his MBA, Wael rejoined Shell Gas & Power in The Hague and commercially led a number of projects including GTL and LNG before moving into Shell’s Downstream business as General Manager for Global Retail Portfolio and New Markets with focus on India and Indonesia.

Since late 2008, Wael has been Shell’s Vice President for Commercial, New Business Development and LNG in Qatar and a member of Shell’s Global Commercial Leadership Team. He is also a member of the non-executive Board of Directors of Qatargas.

Wael is married to Nicole and has two young sons, Adam and Alexander. He enjoys playing football and squash, as well as reading and travelling.

Amira Sonbol specializes in the history of modern Egypt, Islamic history and law, women, gender and Islam and is the author of several books including The New Mamluks:Egyptian Society and Modern Feudalism; Women, thw Family and Divorce Laws in Islamic History; The Creation of a Medical Profession in Egypt: 1800-1922; The Memoirs of Abbas Hilmi II: Sovereign of Egypt; Women of the Jordan: Islam, Labor and Law; Beyond the Exotic:Muslim Women's Histories. Professor Sonbol is Editor-in-Chief of HAWWA: the Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World published by E.J. Brill and Co-Editor of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, a quarterly journal co-published with Selly Oak Colleges (UK). She teaches courses on the History of Modern Egypt, Women and Law, and Islamic Civilization.

Judith Tucker (PhD, History and Middle Eastern Studies,1981, and BA, 1969, both from Harvard University, ) is Professor of History at Georgetown University, and former Editor of the International Journal of Middle East Studies.

She is the author of many publications on the history of women and gender in the Arab world, including Women in 19th Century Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 1985), In the House of the Law: Gender and Islamic Law in Ottoman Syria and Palestine (California University Press, 1998), Women, Family, and Gender in Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and co-author of Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Restoring Women to History (Indiana University Press, 1999). She is the editor of Arab Women: Old Boundaries, New Frontiers (Indiana University Press, 1993) and co-editor of A Social History of Women and Gender in the Modern Middle East (Westview Press, 1999). In addition, she has authored numerous articles for professional journals and edited volumes.

Her research interests have focused on the Arab world in the Ottoman period, women and gender in Middle East history, and Islamic law, women, and gender. She is currently working on a project that explores globalization and the Middle East in the eighteenth century.