Forbes‘ 50 Over 50 list for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (MENA) named Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli, a notable Moroccan nuclear physicist, to this year’s list in honor of her exceptional scientific accomplishments, and Morocco’s Finance Minister Nadia Fettah for contributing to the development of her country’s finance system.
El Moursli’s research contributed to verify the existence of the Higgs Boson particle responsible for mass generation. In 2015, she received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women’s Science Award.
Forbes noted that, although the scientist’s almost 30-year career in science has been replete with accomplishments, it would not have been possible if she had not persuaded her father to let her pursue a doctorate degree in France in the early 1980s.
Having earned her Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France, El Moursli returned to Morocco in 1982 where she enrolled at the Faculty of Science at Rabat’s Mohammed V University.
Early in her career, she became the director of Rabat’s Laboratory of Nuclear Physics, focusing on applications of nuclear, medicinal, and high-energy physics.
In 1996, she played an important role in Morocco’s involvement in the worldwide ATLAS cooperation at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
Her honors include membership in the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and service on the “For Women in Science” international jury.
Now in 2024, El Moursli continues to play a critical role in transforming the global scientific scene and promoting Moroccan accomplishments across the world.
Nadia Fettah became the first woman to be appointed Morocco’s Minister of Finance in 2021. Early in her career, she founded and managed “Maroc Invest Finances Group” in Casablanca in 2000. She then joined the privately held investment firm Saham Group in 2005 and progressed through the ranks, becoming deputy CEO and board chair in 2017.
Fettah began her career in politics in 2019 when she was appointed Morocco’s minister of tourism and “social economy.”