Amal A. Al Qubaisi

With a pioneering career in parliament, government, international relations and academia, Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi is the former President of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates (UAE Parliament).

A pioneer in UAE parliament and government, Dr. Al Qubaisi became the first woman in the Gulf region to be elected to a national parliament in 2006. In 2011, she became the first Emirati and Gulf woman to be elected Vice-President of Parliament. In November 2015, following her election to the presidency of the Federal National Council of the UAE, she became the first Arab woman to preside over a parliament in the Arab world.

With over 23 years of academic and professional experience, Dr. Al Qubaisi was also a member of the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Architectural Engineering at United Arab Emirates University. She also became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Family Development Foundation, Zayed University, and the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency.

A high-level representative of the United Arab Emirates in many international forums and conferences, Dr. Al Qubaisi has been assigned to many official missions of the country abroad, perhaps most notably with the UNESCO World Organization, the World Heritage Centre, the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. She has received many awards for her work, including the Abu Dhabi Award in 2008 and the Abu Dhabi Medal of Honor, presented to her by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. Moreover, in 2018, she was given the Award of Excellence for the Best Arab Parliament President from the Arab Parliamentary Union and The Arab League.

Dr. Al Qubaisi holds a PhD First-Class Honors Degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Sheffield, UK, and holds the world’s only doctoral degree on conserving the UAE’s architectural heritage. She has also been awarded honorary doctorates from prestigious international educational institutions, including the University of Sheffield, the University of Dublin, and the Eurasian National Gumilyov University in the Republic of Kazakhstan, in recognition of her distinct contributions and pioneering international efforts.