Faiza Al-Kharafi
| Faiza Al-Kharafi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 (age 70–71) Kuwait |
| Nationality | Kuwaiti |
| Fields | Electrochemistry, corrosion engineering |
| Education | Al Merkab High School |
| Alma mater |
Ain Shams University Kuwait University |
| Spouse | Ali Mohammed Thanian Al-Ghanim |
| Children | 5 sons, including Marzouq Al-Ghanim |
| Faiza Al-Kharafi | |
|---|---|
| Parent(s) | Mohammed Al-Kharafi |
| Relatives |
Nasser Al-Kharafi (brother) Jassem Al-Kharafi (brother) Fawzi Al-Kharafi (brother) |
Faiza Mohammed Al-Kharafi (Arabic: فايزة الخرافي Fāyzah al-Kharāfī; born 1946) is a Kuwaiti chemist and academic. She was the president of Kuwait University from 1993 to 2002, and the first woman to head a major university in the Middle East. She is the vice president of the World Academy of Sciences.
Faiza Al-Kharafi was born to a wealthy family in Kuwait in 1946. She attended Al Merkab High School. She received her BSc from Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1967. She then attended Kuwait University where she founded the Corrosion and Electrochemistry Research Laboratory. She received her master's in 1972 and her PhD in 1975.
Al-Kharafi worked in Kuwait University's Department of Chemistry from 1975 to 1981. In 1984 she became chair of the department and served as Dean of the Faculty of Science from 1986 to 1989. She became a professor of chemistry at Kuwait University in 1987. On 5 July 1993, Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah issued a decree appointing Al-Kharafi as rector of the University, and she became the first woman to head a major university in the Middle East. She served as president from 1993 to 2002 where she oversaw a staff of 1,500.
Al-Kharafi has studied the impact of corrosion on engine cooling systems, distillation units for crude oil, and high temperature geothermal brines. As an electrochemist, she has studied the electrochemical behavior of aluminum, copper, platinum, niobium, vanadium, cadmium, brass, cobalt, and low carbon steel. She collaborated on the discovery of a class of molybdenum-based catalysts that improve gasoline octane without benzene by-products.
She joined the Board of the United Nations University in 1998. Following the passage of women's suffrage in Kuwait in 2005, she said "[w]hen we have political rights, we can express our opinion and vote for the correct person... This gives us the chance to express our ideas." In 2006, she helped to found the American Bilingual School in Kuwait. She is the vice president of The World Academy of Sciences. She is a board member of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement Sciences.
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