Faculty & Advisory Council
Nawal El Moutawakel
By winning the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Moroccan, African, Arab and Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Born in Casablanca in 1962, Nawal is fiercely proud of her roots and still remains active in Moroccan athletics.
In 1995, she became a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations and two years later she became the first Muslim woman ever to be elected to the International Olympic Committee.
In January 2010, she was appointed Chair of the IOC’s Co-ordination Commission for Rio and in September 2013 she became the 1st Vice President of the International Olympic Committee - the first woman from a Muslim, Arab and African nation ever to be elected.
In 2016, she became a member of Parliament, a role she would hold until 2021.
In August 2010, she was appointed the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).