AUC alumnae among World's Most Influential Arab Women

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: Eight alumnae of tThe American University in Cairo (AUC) have recently beenwere recognized by Arabian Business, on its list of tThe World's Most Influential Arab Women.

Get to know a few of Egypt’s strong and influential women who are making history :

Sahar Nasr (23rd rd on the list)

Nasr currently serves as Egypt’s minister of investment and international cooperation. She was previously a leading economist at the World Bank.


Lina Atallah (41st on the list)
Atallah is the founder and editor- in- chief of Mada Masr newspaper. She was previously the editor- in- chief of Egypt Independent, the English version of Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Shahira Zeid (57th on the list)

Zeid was recognized for her role as chair of MZ investments, a holding company operating in energy, logistics, tourism and hospitality.


Haifaa Al-Mansour (59th on the list)
Mansour is Saudi Arabia’s first filmmaker,; and she was the first to shoot a feature-length film, Wdjda, in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
She graduated from AUC in 1997, with a bachelor’s degree in English and comparative literature.

Mona El Tahawy (60th on the list)
Tahawy is an award-winning journalist, commentator and international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues.

Lamees Al Hadidi (73rd on the list)
Hadidi has become a reputable news anchor. She hosts, currently hosting of the daily news show on CBC channel titled Hona Al Asema (‘Here is the Capital’).

Ahdaf Soueif (80th on the list)
Soueif is the founder of the Palestine Festival of Literature, an annual festival of literary events across historic Palestine. She is also an acclaimed author, most recently writing “Tthe Map of Love,” about Anna Winterbourne, who travels in 1900 and falls in love with an Egyptian nationalist.

Soueif received her master's in English literature from AUC in 1973.

Elham Mahfouz (87th on the list)

Mahfouz was recognized for her role as the CEO for the Commercial Bank of Kuwait.


Other influential Egyptian ladies recognized on Arabian Business’s list include:

Dalia Mogahed (10th on the list)

Mogahed, anAmerican scholar of Egyptian origin, is the dDirector of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) in Washington, D.C,; she is also pPresident and CEO of Mogahed Consulting, an executive coaching and consulting firm specializing in Muslim societies and the Middle East.

She was previously selected as an advisor by U.S. President Barack Obama on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.


Hend el-Sherbiny (15th on the list)

Sherbiny has been Group Chief Executive OfficerCEO of Integrated Diagnostics Holdings plc since 2012. She is also a professor of Clinical Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University.

Nemat Shafik (30th on the list)

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Shafik is a British-American economist who served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England till until February 2017; and she is the incoming director of the London School of Economics.

Gameela Ismail (39th on the list)

Gameela Ismail is an Egyptian politician, activist, and former television presenter. She was involved in calling for and participating in the January 25 Revolution and is known as a champion of human and women’s rights.


Muna Al Hashemi (76th on the list)

Hashemi was appointed as Chief Executive for Batelco’s Bahrain operation in August 2015, having headed the company’s Consumer Division since 2008.

Hoda Kotb (85th on the list)

An Egyptian American, Kotb has become a famous American television news anchor and TV host, known as the co-host of NBC's Today Show's fourth hour with Kathie Lee Gifford.


Hanan Solayman (89th on the list)

Solayman built the Mandara media portal in Upper Egypt in 2010, which has become the biggest center for independent media production and training in the Middle East.