HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan

HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, second daughter of Their Royal Highnesses Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath El Hassan, was born in Amman, Jordan on May 14th, 1971. After completing her primary education in Jordan, Princess Sumaya attended Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, England. She graduated from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, with a BA [hons] degree in History of Art. 

Princess Sumaya chairs the Board of Trustees of Princess Sumaya University for Technology and is actively involved in the affairs of the University.

HRH is continually working on restructuring the University for it to become a cornerstone of Jordan’s continuing drive towards becoming an IT hub for the region. In 2003, Princess Sumaya was asked by HRH Prince El Hassan Bin Talal, Chairman of the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan’s leading applied research institute to join the Board of Trustees. Following that, and in a letter addressed to HRH Princess Sumaya, HRH Prince El Hassan Bin Talal expressed his confidence in the achievements of Princess Sumaya in the development of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, and in this regard, appointed her as the President of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) on the 1st of October 2006. Princess Sumaya is also the Deputy-Chair of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, a government body tasked with the responsibility of advising the government on public policy issues pertaining to science and technology in Jordan.

Through her portfolio of initiatives, Princess Sumaya is actively involved in institutional building to support the development of Jordan’s greatest source of wealth, its human capital, and supporting the use of science for peace and prosperity across Jordan and the wider region. Building on their long history and tradition of achievement, HRH Princess Sumaya began working on transforming the Royal Scientific Society, the Princess Sumaya University for Technology and the Higher Council for Science and Technology, and the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship into the ‘El Hassan Science City’ (EHSC), Jordan’s first science park. The EHSC was inaugurated by His Majesty King Abdullah II on 17 April 2007 with the aim of achieving greater socio-economic development through investments in education and research. As founder of EHSC, Her Royal Highness continues the tradition of institutional building started by her father in order to place science and technology in the service of humanity under the motto of “Science for Peace”. In 2005, Princess Sumaya joined the board of the Amman Baccalaureate School were she now serves as an active member. In 2009, Princess Sumaya became a member of the Jordan Council of Higher Education. Princess Sumaya is an avid archaeologist and follows, on behalf of her father HRH Prince El Hassan, and in her own right, the work of the British Institute in Amman for Archaeological Research and the Council for British Research in the Levant.

She is Patron of the 'Wadi Faynan' project, an archaeological excavation in southern Jordan. She has, at different times, worked with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on several projects relating to the conservation and development of archaeological sites in Jordan. Most recently, under the direction of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Princess Sumaya was invited to become Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jordan National Museum, where she has been overseeing the historic development of Jordan’s first national museum. Princess Sumaya is also the Honorary Patron of the Jordan Computer Society. She is also an honorary patron of several charitable organizations and follows their work diligently, in addition, She also presides over the Jordan Handball Federation and is a member of the International Handball Federation. Princess Sumaya was married to H.E Minister Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Princess Sumaya and Mr. Judeh has four children: twins, a boy, Tariq and a girl, Zein El Sharaf, born in 1994; a son, Ali, born in 1996; and a daughter, Sukayna, born in 1998.