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Dr Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh al-Thani, a board member of Reach Out To Asia (Rota) and a member of Supreme Education Council (SEC), has received an honorary doctorate from United Kingdom’s Plymouth University.
During the graduation ceremony of the university last week, she received the doctorate from Vice-Chancellor Prof Wendy Purcell in the presence of a large number of Qatari students of Plymouth University.
The doctorate has been awarded in recognition of her outstanding contribution in the fields of business and education. Conferring the doctorate, Prof Purcell said: “Each year we have the privilege of bestowing honorary academic degrees upon a select number of eminent people whose achievements reflect the mission and values of our university across a range of
disciplines.”
Speaking to Gulf Times, Dr Aisha said that she dedicated the award to two women who have been inspirational in
her life.
She said: “I am dedicating this honour to my mother and to HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation. These are two personalities who have influenced my life very deeply. We, the Qatari women, would be less heard and unable to contribute fully to the advancement of our country if it wasn’t for HH Sheikha Moza. She started a wave of activism that did not only empower women in Qatar but touched women all over the region.”
Dr Aisha also observed that a large number of Qatari graduates passed out from the Plymouth University yearly which was very encouraging.
“I was really excited to watch so many Qatari students receiving bachelor and master’s degrees during the graduation. It is heartening to see so many Qatari graduates from such a university that has over 32,000 students and one of the largest in the UK,” said, urging the graduates to work hard and make their country proud.
Dr Aisha earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Hull and a doctorate in corporate governance from Cass Business School. She is a board member, and former chairperson, of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, and was listed as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by Georgetown University’s Centre for Muslim-Christian understanding and the Royal Islamic Strategic Centre in Jordan. She is the chairperson and founder of Al Faleh Group, which provides educational services and products in Qatar.
