Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi (Arabic: لبنى بنت خالد بن سلطان القاسمي; born 4 February 1962) is an Emirati politician and member of the ruling family of Sharjah and the niece to Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi. She was previously the Minister of State for Tolerance, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Minister of Economic and Planning of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She was the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the UAE. She has been President of Zayed University since 2014.

History

Lubna graduated from the California State University, Chico with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, and has an Executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah. Lubna received an honorary doctorate of science from California State University, Chico. She returned to the UAE to work as a programmer for software company Datamation in 1981. She was the Dubai branch manager for the General Information Authority, the organization responsible for automating the federal government of the United Arab Emirates. After this posting, she worked for seven years in the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA). As part of a cabinet reshuffle, the prime minister of UAE, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced that Sheikha Lubna would take a post as a minister in the newly established Ministry of Tolerance.

Honours and awards