Background

Ethnicity: Noor's father was of Syrian descent, and her mother was Swedish.

Queen Noor of Jordan, born Lisa Najeeb Halaby, was born on August 23, 1951, in Washington, United States. She is the daughter of Najeeb Halaby and Doris Carlquist. Her father was the director of the Federal Aviation Administration under President Kennedy. She grew up in a family of privilege where public service was valued.

Education

Queen Noor attended National Cathedral School from fourth to eighth grade. She briefly attended The Chapin School in New York City, then went on to graduate from Concord Academy in Massachusetts.

She entered Princeton University with its first coeducational freshman class and received a Bachelor of Arts in architecture and urban planning in 1974. At Princeton, she was also a member of the school's first women's ice hockey team.

Career

After graduating, Queen Noor moved to Australia. In 1975, she started working for a British architectural and planning firm named Llewelyn Davies. She became increasingly interested in the Middle East and immediately accepted a job offer from a British architectural firm that had been employed to redesign Tehran, Iran. In 1976 she moved back to the United States. Noor thought about earning a master's degree in journalism and starting a career in television production. However, she accepted a job offer from the Managing Director of Arab Air Services, which was founded by her father, who was commissioned by the Jordanian government to redesign their airlines. She became Director of Facilities Planning and Design of the airline he founded.

In 1977, Queen Noor was working for Royal Jordanian Airlines, in which capacity she attended various high-profile social events as the Director of Facilities Planning and Design. This is where she met Hussein of Jordan for the first time on the development of the Queen Alia International Airport.

On June 15, 1978, Queen Noor became the first American-born queen of an Arab country, taking the name Noor Al-Hussein or "Light of Hussein." She became a fourth wife of Jordanian King Hussein. At that time, Noor renounced American citizenship.

Noor Al-Hussein enthusiastically embraced and excelled in her official duties, concentrating on the improvement of Jordan's educational system. Addressing the issue of Jordan's most talented youth leaving to study abroad, Queen Noor helped to establish the Jubilee School, a three-year coeducational high school for gifted students.

Noor Al-Hussein also devoted energy and funds to preserving and celebrating Jordan's cultural heritage, helping to establish the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, an annual event featuring dance, poetry and music, which attracted thousands of tourists. Also, she formed the Arab Children's Congress and annual program for Arab children of all nationalities that emphasizes their common heritage.

Since 1979, Noor founded and chairs the Noor Al Hussein Foundation, have advanced development thinking in Jordan and the Middle East through pioneering programs in the fields of poverty eradication and sustainable development, women’s empowerment, microfinance, health, and the arts as a medium for social development and cross-cultural exchange, many of which are internationally acclaimed models for the developing world.

In 1985, Noor Al-Hussein collected all of her development initiatives under the umbrella of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation. She also served on several international boards devoted to the promotion of peace, positive educational and cultural development, and preservation of wildlife and natural resources.

After the death of King Hussein, Noor founded the King Hussein Foundation and the King Hussein Foundation International in 1999, which includes several organizations that are devoted to carrying on King Hussein's legacy by promoting peace throughout Jordan and the Middle East. Since 2001, the foundation has awarded the King Hussein Leadership Prize to individuals, groups, or institutions that demonstrate inspiring leadership in their efforts to promote sustainable development, human rights, tolerance, social equity and peace. As chair of the organizations, Queen Noor has invested in launching other programs and awarding recognition to those who have made steps towards creating peace.

She has also published two books, "Hussein of Jordan" in 2000 and "Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life" in 2003.

Queen Noor is involved with several other international organizations advancing global peace-building and conflict recovery. Much of her work, both in Jordan and internationally, has focused on education, human rights, sustainable development, and cross-cultural understanding. Championing youth empowerment and women’s rights, as well as the arts and sciences.

Achievements

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  Queen Noor is known as the first American-born queen of an Arab country. For the past 20 years Queen Noor has promoted peace, international exchange, and understanding, lecturing at international conferences, and world affairs and academic institutions on Middle Eastern politics and current global issues.
  
  In recognition of her efforts to advance development, democracy, and peace, Queen Noor has been awarded numerous awards and honorary doctorates in international relations, law, and humane letters.
  
  Queen Noor is known as the founder the King Hussein Foundation in 1979 which had other institutions including Noor Al Hussein Foundation, the Information, and Research Center, the National Center for Culture and Arts, the Institute for Family Health, the Jubilee Institute, the National Music Conservatory, the Islamic microfinance company, Ethmar, the Community Development Program and Tamweelcom the Jordan Micro Credit Company. In 1980, she established a youth program known as the International Arab Youth Congress.
  
  She has also published two books, "Hussein of Jordan" in 2000 and "Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life," which became a New York Times #1 best seller published in 17 languages.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life

    (This memoir provides a vital perspective on 30 years of t...)

    2003

Religion

Noor was raised in a Judeo-Christian society. When she married the king of Jordan in 1978, she became a Muslim and embraced the Islamic faith.

Politics

In one interview Queen Noor said that politics plays an important role in her life. As stated in the article "She considered much of her own work political, whether it was meetings with Jordan's Planning Council, coordination of her country's participation in the United Nations’ Year of the Child, state visits, receptions for visiting dignitaries and their wives or simply entertaining."

Views

Queen Noor sponsors many projects aimed at increasing educational and work opportunities for Jordanian women. Internationally, she supports United Nations programs for women and children, in addition to her longtime campaign against landmines.

Queen Noor also set out to address the issue of women's rights. Although she advocated increased educational and employment opportunities for women, founding the Women and Development Project, she remained sensitive to the interests of those reluctant to work outside the home for religious reasons.

Quotations: "What is important about me is independent of all that. What is important of everybody in life is independent of all that. And what is important about my husband was also independent of that."

"I've seen it around the world, in the poorest countries and in countries riven with conflict, it is women who are the key to breaking out of poverty, breaking out of stagnation. It's women who can contribute to achieving real security - not bombs and bullets and repressive governments."

"I believe in expanding the options open to women, at the same time not telling them that they are not fulfilling themselves if they don't have a job."

"Twitter and Facebook have been a catalyst for organizing people on the ground, identifying human rights abuses and provide a voice, especially for women, that would not have otherwise been heard."

Membership

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  Ocean Elders , United States

Personality

In one interview Queen Noor said, she has always been "a loner, an independent person."

"I could never tolerate much socializing before," Queen Noor said in the interview. "I usually preferred to be alone, but now that it has become part of my responsibilities, it is easier for me, somehow. I find I learn a lot and am rarely bored."

Queen Noor speaks Arabic, English, and French.

Interests

• Horseback riding, reading, gardening, photography

• Sport & Clubs

  Skiing, water skiing, sailing

Connections

Queen Noor and King Hussein got married on June 15, 1978. They had four children together: Prince Hamzah, Prince Hashim, Princess Iman, and Princess Raiyah.

Father:

Najeeb Elias Halaby

Queen Noor's father, Najeeb Elias Halaby, was born in Dallas, Texas of Syrian descent, and distinguished himself as a United States Navy test pilot and lawyer who became head of the Federal Aviation Administration under President John Kennedy. He was also the chief executive officer of Pan American World Airways.

Mother:

Doris Carlquist

Queen Noor's mother, Doris Carlquist, was born in Leavenworth, Washington, of Swedish descent, and studied political science at the University of Washington.

husband:

Hussein bin Talal bin Abdullah bin Hussein

Hussein bin Talal was a king of Jordan from 1953 to 1999. His reign marked the shaping of the modern kingdom of Jordan, and his policies greatly increased the Jordanian standard of living.

Son:

Hamzah bin Hussein

Prince Hamzah bin Hussein was born on March 29, 1980. He is the elder son of King Hussein and h Queen Noor.

Son:

Hashim bin Hussein

Prince Hashim bin Hussein was born on June 10, 1981. He is the younger son of King Hussein and Queen Noor.

Daughter:

Raiyah bint Hussein

Princess Raiyah bint Hussein was born on February 9, 1986. She is the younger daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor.

Daughter:

Iman bint Hussein

Princess Iman bint Hussein was born on April 24, 1983. She is the elder daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor.

References

• Noor Al Hussein (@QueenNoor)
• ‫Queen Noor Al Hussein الملكة نور الحسين ‬