Princess Sumaya bint Hassan (born 14 May 1971) is a princess of Jordan.

Early life

Sumaya was born in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

on 14 May 1971, to

Prince Hassan bin Talal Prince Hassan bin Talal ( ar, الحسن بن طلال, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before King Hussein's death. Family Prince Ha ...

and

Princess Sarvath al-Hassan Princess Sarvath al-Hassan (born Sarvath Ikramullah on 24 July 1947) is a Jordanian royal and the wife of Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. She was born in Calcutta on 24 July 1947, to a prominent Muslim family of the Indian subcontinent. ...

. Her mother was of Pakistani-Bengali descent. She received her primary education at the Amman Baptist School in Jordan, and subsequently at the International Community School. Sumaya later attended

Sherborne School for Girls Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and boarding school for girls, located in Sherborne, North Dorset, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with over 90 per cent of them livin ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, in England. She went on to graduate from the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in the History of Art, specializing in Early Sources of Islamic Art and Architecture.

Public life

In 1991, Sumaya founded the

Princess Sumaya University for Technology Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), established in 1991, is a specialized, Non-governmental organization, Non-governmental, Nonprofit organization, Non-profit, Jordanian university, owned by the leading applied research centre in ...

(PSUT), and currently, she serves as the Chairman of PSUT's Board of Trustees. Her aim was to build a regional hub for IT research and development, and today PSUT has become the leading science and technology institution in Jordan and the MENA region. She was appointed President of the

Royal Scientific Society The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) is an independent non-governmental, not-for-profit multidisciplinary science institution established by royal charter. Founded in 1970 as a national organisation to actively advise and support the development ...

(RSS) in October 2006 by her father Hassan Bin Talal, the founder of RSS. Previously, she had sat on its Board of Trustees. In her capacity as President of the Royal Scientific Society, Sumaya sits as a member of the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), a government body that advises the State on public policy issues relating to science and technology. She is also founder of the Queen Rania Centre for Entrepreneurship (QRCE), Jordan's first and only university-based centre for Entrepreneurship, and established the Queen Rania National Business Plan Competition for aspiring student entrepreneurs. She was elected as Chair of the Board of Governors of the

UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA; ar, الإسكوا) is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The role of the Commission is to promote e ...

(UN-ESCWA) Technology Centre, based on the RSS campus. She has been a supporter of SESAME for over a decade and has raised awareness of the project at numerous global high-level fora. In May 2017, the

King of Jordan The king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is Jordan's head of state and monarch. He serves as the head of the Jordanian monarchy—the Hashemite dynasty. The king is addressed as His Majesty (). Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. However, ...

invited Sumaya to head the Jordan Delegation at SESAME's official opening. Sumaya chaired the 8th

World Science Forum The World Science Forum (WSF) is an international conference series on global science policy. Since 2003, it is organised biannually in Budapest, Hungary. The WSF traces back its origin to the first World Conference on Science, organised by UN ...

2017 held in Jordan from 7–10 November 2017 under the theme of "Science for Peace". The World Science Forum 2017 marked its first time in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Sumaya is President of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organization (WAITRO)since 2019. Sumaya serves as Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees of the

Amman Baccalaureate School The Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS) is a private, fee-paying school and nonprofit organization, licensed by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. It is a coeducational day school and prepares its students for the International Baccalaureate Diplo ...

, which she joined in 2005, a member of the Board of Directors of the Hashemite Society for Education, and a member of the board at the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board(RAEB). In 2009, Sumaya became a member of the Jordan Council of Higher Education. She is on the advisory board of the

Global Young Academy The Global Young Academy is an international society of young scientists, aiming to give a voice to young scientists across the globe.... Membership strength is capped at 200, and the membership tenure is 5 years. Organization and membership Th ...

Private life

Sumaya married Nasser Judeh in August 1992, Jordan's former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. They have four children: Tariq Judeh (born 1994) - twin brother of Zein, Zein el Sharaf Judeh (born 1994), Ali Judeh (born 1996), Sukayna Judeh (born 1998). The couple divorced in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumaya Bint Al Hassan 1971 births Living people People educated at Sherborne Girls Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Archaeologists of the Near East Biblical archaeologists Jordanian women archaeologists House of Hashim Jordanian princesses Jordanian people of Pakistani descent Jordanian Muslims People from Amman Jordanian archaeologists Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Suhrawardy family Jordanian people of Bengali descent