Her Excellency Prof. Rowaida ALMaaitah

AlMaaitah has held prominent political and academic roles, including Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, President of the Hashemite University, Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament, Minister of State for Government Performance, Minister of Social Development, Director General of King Abdullah University Teaching Hospital, Chairperson of Higher Education Council, and Vice President and Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs. Additionally, she served as Vice President and Dean of  Nursing atJordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) and founded the World Health Organization Collaboration (WHO) Center of Excellence at JUST. AlMaaitah is an Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a recipient of the Abdul Hameed Shoman Medical Sciences Award for Young Arab Scientists. Al Maaitah earned her Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Public Health from Tulane University  and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Administration at Louisiana State University. She also participated in leadership programs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. AlMaaitah currently serves as Vice President of the Health Care Accreditation Council and holds board roles in the Jordanian Nursing Council, Qatar University Health, and the WHO Global Commission on Social Determinants of Health. She is also a member of Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision committees on education and health. Al Maaitah was the first woman in the region to serve as Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, President of a university, and Chair of the Executive Council of the Arab Women Organization at the Arab League. Al Maaitah is a recipient of the Order of the State Centennial, the Order of the Star of Jordan, and the Bahraini Decoration of the Second Order. With numerous publications, she has spoken extensively on higher education, health policy, leadership, and women’s roles in politics and nation-building.