Amal Al Qubaisi (born 18 October 1969) is an Emirati politician who served as the speaker of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Federal National Council The Federal National Council (FNC) (, ''al-Majlis al-Watani al-Ittihadi'') of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an advisory quasi-parliamentary body in the UAE. The FNC consists of 40 members. Twenty of the members are indirectly elected by the ...

(FNC) from 2015 to 2019. She was first female leader of a national assembly in the

and the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. Before holding the position she was the chairwoman of the

Abu Dhabi Education Council The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) (), is the educational authority for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates and the home of the country's capital city. The department was initially es ...

Career and education

In 2000, Al Qubaisi earned her Ph.D. in

architectural engineering Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...

from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

in the United Kingdom and holds the world's only doctoral degree on the conservation of the UAE's architectural heritage. She became an assistant professor of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at UAE University in 2000 which she held until 2006. As an architect, she has worked with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

to document and preserve more than 350 historical sites in the UAE including Al Jahili and Al Hosn Forts. In 2001, she was appointed president of the

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

unit of Al Ain's Tourism and Economic Development Authority. She served as president until 2003. In 2007, she was elected to be a member of FNC for Abu Dhabi, making her the first woman elected. She headed the Education, Youth, Media and Culture Committee and was a member of the Health, Labour and Social Affairs Committee. In 2011, Al Qubaisi was chosen as first deputy speaker of the FNC and became the first woman to chair a council session in 2013. In 2014, she was appointed as chairwomen of the

. On 18 November 2015, Al Qubaisi was appointed president of the FNC, making her the region's first female leader of a national assembly.

Awards

* 2008, Abu Dhabi Award * 2008, Middle East Excellence Award of Women Leadership, for being the most prominent female for her outstanding political achievement in 2007 * 2009, Abu Dhabi Medal of Honor * 2014, Emirati Pioneers Award, for being the first Emirati woman elected to join the Federal National Council. * 2016, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sheffield

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qubaisi, Amal 1969 births Living people People from Abu Dhabi Alumni of the University of Sheffield Emirati women in politics Academic staff of United Arab Emirates University Speakers of the Federal National Council Emirati architects