Dr Thoraya Ahmed Obaid

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid made the headlines in 1963 as the first Saudi woman to receive a government scholarship to study at an American university and has been shattering the glass ceiling ever since. Obaid was the first Saudi woman to head a United Nations agency, when she was appointed Head of the United Nations Population Fund in January 2001. Obaid’s work has been internationally recognised with several awards including one from the UN Population Fund, a medal from the Union Theological Seminary (the first Muslim woman to do so) and she was the first woman named Person of the Year by the late King Abdullah.

A lifelong champion of women’s health and empowerment, Obaid has served as board chairman of the Women’s Learning Partnership, which promotes women and their rights in mainly Muslim-majority countries.

Obaid was appointed as a Shura Council member in 2013.

Obaid shares credit for her achievements with her father.

“It was my father who saw the opportunity for women to break the glass ceiling, and he pushed me to do so.”