Artist: Unique
Lives and Experiences: Queen Noor
Genre: Theater
Background: Her Majesty Queen Noor was
born Lisa Najeeb Halaby on 23 August 1951, to an Arab-American
family distinguished for its public service. She attended
schools in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York City,
and Concord Academy in Massachusetts, before entering
Princeton University in its first co-educational freshman
class.
After receiving a B.A. in Architecture and Urban Planning
from Princeton University in 1974, Queen Noor worked on
international urban planning and design projects in Australia,
Iran, the United States, and Jordan from where she traveled
throughout the Arab World to research aviation training
facilities. Subsequently, she joined ‘Royal Jordanian’
airline as Director of Planning and Design Projects.
Their Majesties, King Hussein and Queen Noor, were married
on 15 June 1978. They have two sons: HRH Prince Hamzah
(born 29 March 1980), and HRH Prince Hashim (born 10 June
1981), and two daughters: HRH Princess Iman (born 24 April
1983), and HRH Princess Raiyah (born 9 February 1986).
Their family also included the children of His Majesty’s
previous marriage: Ms. Abir Muheisen, HRH Princess Haya,
and HRH Prince Ali.
Since 1978, Queen Noor has initiated, directed, and sponsored
projects and activities in Jordan to address specific
national development needs in the areas of education,
culture, women and children’s welfare, human rights,
conflict resolution, community development, environmental
and architectural conservation, public architecture, and
urban planning. She is also actively involved with international
and UN organizations that address global challenges in
these fields. Queen Noor has played a major role in promoting
international exchange and understanding of Middle Eastern
politics, Arab-Western relations, and humanitarian and
conflict prevention, and recovery issues throughout the
world, such as youth drug abuse, refugees, and disarmament.
