Rahma Bourqia formerly was president of Hassan II University – Mohammedia; she was the first woman to be appointed to the presidency of a Moroccan university. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Manchester University in the United Kingdom. She has extensive work experience in the education field from secondary level to professor of sociology at the Mohamed V University. She is the author or co-author of several books, including In the Shadow of the Sultan.

Her research, which has been published in numerous journals in Arabic, French and English, has included such topics as women’s bodies, strategy of illness and fertility in Morocco. Dr. Bourqia is an expert on women’s rights in Morocco and the Arab World. She was appointed by Morroco’s king to the committee created to discuss the status of women in Morocco, which led to the 2004 new family law that changed the legal status of women in her country. She is a member of the Royal Academy Morocco.