Dr. Samah Gamar

Dr. Samah Gamar is a seasoned higher education professional with extensive experience in education policy, programme development, monitoring and assessment, and higher education quality assurance. Her career has spanned the tertiary education sector, from technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to postgraduate-level studies. She is currently the Director of Academic Affairs at Qatar Foundation, a role in which she is dedicated to supporting comprehensive academic excellence across the eight HEIs within Education City, as well as leading flagship initiatives that pioneer interdisciplinary approaches, innovative pedagogical and practical evidence-based frameworks, and increased student-centricity and mobility.

Samah was the Founding Director of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, where she played a critical role in securing institutional accreditation from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). She also served as the Academic Vice President of College of the North Atlantic–Qatar, a Canadian branch campus established as Qatar’s premier polytechnic institution. Samah was a Senior Education Consultant with the Education Above All Foundation, where she worked to alleviate barriers to accessing higher education for conflict-affected youth, including an initiative supporting progress towards UNSCR 2250.

She maintains an adjunct faculty position within the Master of Public Policy programme at the Doha Institute, where she teaches critical pedagogies and education reform in the MENA region, and she has published in areas focusing on democratic governance, critical consciousness, and sociopolitical agency in higher education.