Ameenah Gurib-Fakim PhD, has served as the 6th and First Female President of the Republic of Mauritius (2015-2018). Prior to that, she has been the Managing Director of the “Centre International de Développement Pharmaceutique (CIDP) Research and Innovation” as well as Professor of Organic Chemistry with an endowed chair at the University of Mauritius.

She has been admitted to the Order of the Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the Government of France in 2010 and is the recipient of 7 Honorary Doctorates DSc (s).

In 2019, she received the ‘Trailblazing award for political leadership’ by the World Women Leaders Council in Iceland. In 2020, she was elected Honorary President of the International and Engineering Institute and received their 2020 5th IETI Annual Scientific Award. She also received the IAS-COMSTECH Ibrahim Memorial Award from the WIAS in Jordan. In 2021, she received the Benazir Bhutto Lifetime Achievement Award, the Obada Prize, Egypt and the RUFORUM Recognition Prize 2021. 

In 2021, she was appointed as Distinguished Professor at the John Wesley School of Leadership, Carolina University, USA.