Academics

Prof. Hala Mohamed Sakr is a Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS), Cairo University, a position she has held since 2015. She served as the Academic Coordinator of the English Section from 2015 to 2018 and was a member of the Steering Committee for the implementation and supervision of the Credit Hours System at FEPS. She is currently a member of the Technical Committee for the Health Economics Professional Master’s program.

She represents FEPS on the Economic Committee of the EU Tuning Africa Initiative Project, under the supervision of Deusto University (Spain), the African Commission, and the European Union.

Prof. Hala has been a member of the Travel and Tourism Sub-Council of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC) since 2013. In 2016, she provided economic consultancy to the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA). She also served as a Monitoring and Evaluation expert for the Health Pillar of Egypt’s 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) at the Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform (MPMAR) in 2017.

Throughout her academic career, she has published several papers on foreign direct investment, trade in services, labor migration, local economic development, inclusive growth, the tourism sector, health sector liberalization, and the knowledge economy.

Prof. Hala’s teaching experience includes Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Economic Development, International Economics, Managerial Economics, Health Economics, and the Knowledge Economy.

Prof. Hala is currently the Dean of the School of Economics and Politics at NGU.

Prof. Abustait received B.A Degree in Economics from Cairo University, He received two master’s degrees in finance, University Texas A&M, in 1982 received another master’s in political economy, University of Texas. in 1986 he was awarded a Ph.D. In Economics and the International Finance University of Texas USA.
Prof. Abustait has a mixture of practical and academic experience enabled him to hold several important advisory and academics posts. He holds several advisory posts at various international organizations such as United States Agency for Development USAID, he worked for United Nations Development and Population UNFPA, besides Economic advisor to Ministry of Planning in Saudi Arabia and Economic Advisor to the Chairman of Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. He worked as Economic Advisor for two central Banks in Two Arab Gulf Countries.
He received his professorship in 2000 and he has more than 45 articles published in well-known journals in English besides several books in different fields in economics.
His area of interesting research is macroeconomic policies, financial stability, and politics.

Prof. Awad graduated with honors in 1976 from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. In 1982, he got a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the same school with an “Excellent”. Then he moved to the United States, where he got another master’s degree in 1986, followed by a doctorate degree in 1990 from the Department of Government and Politics of the University of Maryland, both with an “Excellent”.

Prof. Awad has very long teaching experience at Cairo University. In addition, he taught at the University of Maryland, King Saud University, Alexandria University, Misr University for Sciences and Technology, 6 October University, the Arab Institute for Research and Studies, and the Arab Academy for Sciences, Technology, and Maritime Transportation.

Prof. Awad has an interest in comparative political systems in general and in area studies in particular in both Asia and Latin America. He has publications in the field both in Arabic and English, as well as a number of translations. Also, he supervised tens of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations and participated as head and as an examiner in committee discussions for a quite similar number of theses and dissertations within and outside Egypt.

Prof. Ola Al Sayed is a Professor of Financial Economics. Her professional, academic, consultancy and administrative experience has been fulfilling as she joined several universities inside Egypt, (public and private), and outside Egypt where she served as Visiting Professor at the Institute for Islamic World Studies, Zayed University, UAE and a full-time Associate Professor at Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. She formerly served as Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs at the School of Business, Ahram Canadian University.

Regarding academic experience, she has taught several courses in both Economics and Finance majors at the graduate and undergraduate levels. These courses include Principles of Finance, Investment, Money and Banking, Financial Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamic Banking, Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, Financial Management, Risk Management, Public Finance, Investments, Securities Analysis, Financial Institutions, Financial Markets, Intermediate Microeconomics, Managerial Economics, Economic Policies in addition to Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics.

She published several research articles in reputable local and international journals, in the area of Economics, Banking Sector, Islamic Finance, Digitalization and Public Finance. She supervised several Master and Ph.D. dissertations and participated in both national and international conferences.

She is currently full-time Professor and assessment lead of exams committee at the School of Economics and Politics (SOEP) at Newgiza University, Egypt.

Prof. Hoda Hassaballa is a Professor of Economics at Newgiza University’s School of Economics and Politics. She earned her BA (Highest Honours) and MA in Economics from the American University in Cairo and completed her PhD in Environmental Economics with an Excellent degree at Cairo University in 2011. Over her distinguished academic career, she has held several leadership and teaching positions, including serving as Professor of Economics and Head of the Economics Department at the British University in Egypt.

Her teaching portfolio spans environmental economics, economic development, microeconomics, macroeconomics, behavioral sciences, globalization, and the economics of Egypt. Her research focuses on promoting sustainable practices in developing economies, examining the environmental impact of economic activities, and strengthening governance for sustainable development. She has published in reputable international journals such as Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Environmental Development, African Development Review, and Heliyon. She has also served as an advisor to a UN Climate Change project on desertification in Egypt’s Delta region and collaborated on international research initiatives, including the BaSEF project.

Associate Professor at CU (Cairo university) faculty of economics and political science, economics department, part-time at Newgiza university (NGU) School of economics and politics.
Area of interest in research: economic development, institutional economics, macroeconomics.
Previous experience: Participation in many local and international conferences by organizing and presenting research papers, Participation with local and international bodies in preparing many research projects and working papers, publishing much scientific research in local and
international journals.

Dr. Heba Mohamed Zahra is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. She is also an Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University.

Dr. Heba received her MA in Comparative Politics from American University in Washington D.C. – the U.S.A. She completed her PhD in Political Science at Cairo University. Her research interests include Comparative Politics, Research Methodology, civil-military relations, and terrorism studies. She has published several research papers in prestigious academic journals. In addition, she was a member of the Quality Assurance and Accreditation team of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University.

Dr. Rasha Mahmoud El-Baz obtained her BA, MA, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Cairo University. Her research is focused on the Middle East, Turkish-Israeli Relations, Conflict Resolution and International Arbitration, and Security challenges in Central Asia.

She currently serves as a Political Science Lecturer at the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University, and had previously served as a Lecturer at 6th of October University and at MUST University.

In 2006, she worked as Head of Research Unit at the Malaysian Program at Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. In 2007, she served as the Chief Editor for Nile Centre for Strategic Research (Egypt Branch).

Additionally, she has more than 10 years of professional experience in the field of development with the UNDP where she had assumed several roles including project manager of the women empowerment initiative of the UNDP Poverty Eradication Programme.

Dr. Maie Ashraf is a Lecturer at the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Economics department of the Faculty of African Studies – Cairo University. Aside from lecturing, she has supervised and conducted economic research for the ICT industry in Egypt. She taught at Faculty of Economics and Political Science – Cairo University different courses for both undergraduates and students enrolled in the Master’s program of Law and Economics for the Arab Region (MLEA) in her area of specialization. She has published many research papers in the economics of telecommunications and economic development.

Dr. Marwa is a Lecturer of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She obtained her Ph.D. in Economics in 2016, from the faculty of Economics and Political science, Cairo University, and from the institute of law and economics in Hamburg, Germany. She obtained her MSc. in 2011 in Participatory planning from Cairo University. Her research interests include international economics, institutional economics, as well as topics in the field of law and economics. She is currently a part-time lecturer at the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University.

Dr. Ghada Moussa holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She worked as a Visiting Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sc., Cairo University, American University, GAP, Future University, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transportation. She is currently a lecturer at Newgiza University.

Dr. Ghada Moussa published research papers in the fields of Political Economy, Governance Reforms, Transition to Democratic Governance, Culture of Resistance, Dynamics of Corruption, Gender Policy Reforms, Public Sector Reform (interface between political governance and public governance), Political Parties Reform.

On the professional level, she worked as the Director of the Governance Center, Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform 2008-2018. She also held a position of Secretary-General of the “Transparency and Integrity Committee” 2008-2011. She was also the National Focal Point to the Public Governance Committee- OECD 2012-2018, and the former Member of Technical Committee of the National Coordinative Anti-Corruption Committee (NCCC) and contributed to the Egyptian National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2014-2018. She is also an assigned Member of the National Council for Governance established for the African Governance Peer Review Mechanism from 2017 until now.

Dr. Hoda Shaltout is currently a Political Science Lecturer at Newgiza University and has been a Lecturer and an Assistant Lecturer at MUST University since 2014.
She acquired both her Ph.D. and MA in Political Science from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University in 2018 and 2012 respectively, with a specialization in International Relations. She has more than 10 years of professional experience in the field of development with the EU and UN where she has assumed a number of roles including the EU Children at Risk Programme Director Technical Assistant and Visibility Coordinator, as well as the EU Family and Child Rights Senior Awareness Raising Officer.

Dr. Huda Abdel Raouf is currently a Political Science Lecturer at Newgiza University. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University (grade excellent), with a specialization in International Relations.

Her M.A. in political science (2012) is in the Israeli Egyptian relations after 2011.

She is a Member of the Political Science Committee at the Supreme Culture Council, since 2017.

She has more than 10 years of professional experience in the field of public policy and decision making in governmental and bureaucratic institutions, as she worked for the Information and Decision Support Center – The Egyptian Cabinet Think Tank. She also worked for the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers, in the technical office of the Prime minister and the General Secretary as well.

Her research interests include international & regional affairs, regional powers and regional systems, Egyptian foreign policy, and Iranian affairs.

Dr. Fatma R. Farag is an Assistant Professor of Socio-Computing at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She graduated from the same faculty in 1999 with a Bachelor of Statistics – Minor: Socio-Computing. She received her master’s degree in Socio-Computing in 2008 and her Ph.D. in 2019. She joined the 9-Month Professional Diploma at the Information Technology Institute (ITI), Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center in 2000.

Her research interests include Social Simulation and Modeling, Agent-based Modeling, Complex Adaptive Systems, Data Science, Opinion Dynamics, and Gender Studies. Fatma works as the Academic Coordinator for the undergraduate credit hours system at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science. She also works as a member of the Executive Board Committee of the Anti-Violence Against Woman Unit at Cairo University. Fatma is currently a part-time Lecturer at Newgiza University.

Dr. Heba El Deeb is a lecturer of Statistics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She received her MSc. in Operation Research in 2012, and Ph.D. in Reliability and Operation Research from the same faculty in 2019. Her teaching experience includes graduates’ and undergraduates’ statistics courses at Cairo University.
Her research interests are in Operation Research, Reliability, Stochastic Processes, Simulation, and Modeling.

Dr. Ahmed Megahed is a former Egyptian diplomat. He is currently a lecturer of Political sciences at the School of Economics and Politics, Newgiza University, and a visiting Professor of Practice at Université Clermont Auvergne, France, and Qatar University.

He has a Ph.D. degree in Political Sciences from Université Clermont Auvergne, France (2021). He graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in France, where he followed ENA’s Cycle International Long and earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration (2001-2003). He also studied at Malta University and obtained a Master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations (1997).

Dr. Megahed joined the Egyptian Foreign Service in 1995 and graduated from the Institute of diplomatic studies in January 1996. He served at Egypt’s Embassies and missions in Manila, Djibouti, London, UNESCO and was the deputy Ambassador of Egypt and Chargé d’affaires a. i. in Paris. He also worked at the Minister’s cabinet as well as in various departments and units of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2018, he retired as Minister plenipotentiary and opted for a career-shift to academia.

His area of interest and expertise includes diplomatic and consular systems, foreign policy analysis, theories of international relations, international negotiations, political theory, and public opinion.

Dr. Radwa A. Abdelghaffar is a lecturer of economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS), Cairo University (CU). She obtained her MSc. and Ph.D. in economics in 2015 and 2023 respectively, at FEPS, CU. She is the academic seminar coordinator at FEPS, CU.

Her research interests include digital economy, financial economics, econometrics, and quantitative methods. She is currently a part-time lecturer and scientific seminar coordinator at the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University.

Dr. Heba Ashraf graduated and got both Master’s and Ph.D from faculty of economics and political sciences, Cairo university. Dr. Heba worked at the Central Bank of Egypt till 2011.  She worked as a part time lecturer of economics in Cairo University since 2017.  Her teaching experience includes undergraduate and post graduate courses as well.

Her fields of interest in research and publications are macroeconomics, money and banking and Fintech. Dr. Heba also has technical certificates in Fintech and digital transformation.

She is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, where she obtained her PhD in Political Science in 2017. Her doctoral research examined the European Union’s normative power and its role in promoting democracy in the Eastern and Southern Neighborhood. She has participated in numerous research projects hosted by Cairo University and the American University in Cairo. In addition to her academic research, she has taught a wide range of courses related to international relations, women and development, and development issues at both international and regional levels.

Her research interests focus primarily on European Union politics, as well as gender and development studies. She is currently working as a Lecturer of Political Science in the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University, where she continues to contribute to teaching and research in her areas of specialization.

Safinaz El Tarouty is a Lecturer at Newgiza University (NGU). She earned her PhD in Politics from the University of East Anglia, UK, and holds both a BA and an MA from the American University in Cairo. She teaches Political Systems in Africa, Civil Society, Methodology of Political Science, and Research Seminar. Prior to joining NGU, she served as a lecturer at New Bulgarian University in the Department of Mediterranean and Eastern Studies.

El Tarouty is the author of Businessmen, Clientelism, and Authoritarianism in Egypt (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), a widely cited work on the political economy of authoritarianism under Mubarak. Her scholarship has also appeared in leading academic publications, including a contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Politics in Muslim Societies (Oxford University Press) and articles in the peer-reviewed Middle East Journal. She has received several prestigious international fellowships and grants, including the International Student Award from the School of Political, Social and International Studies at the University of East Anglia (2008–2013). She was also selected as a Stanford Summer Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and as an International Visitor Grantee by the U.S. Department of State.

Nouran has worked as a Teaching Assistant of Statistics at the Faculty of Management Sciences, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), after obtaining her B.Sc. in Statistics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University in 2019. She acquired her MSc. in Statistics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University in 2022. 

Her research interests include Regression Analysis, Time Series Analysis, Categorical Data Analysis, Multivariate Data Analysis, Econometrics, Operation Researches, Non-Parametric Statistics, Missing Data Analysis, and Data Science. Nouran has been working with several programming skills, such as STATA, R, and Python. Nouran is currently a full-time assistant lecturer at NGU.

Yosra earned her bachelor’s degree in economics major from Modern Science and Arts University (MSA) in 2015 with highest honors and was top of her class.

She worked as TA in MSA since 2015 and completed her master’s degree titled “Investigating the Relationship between Fin-tech and Financial Inclusion in Developing Countries” in 2021.

Her teaching experience include Macroeconomics, Microeconomics and Money and Banking. Yosra is currently a full-time Assistant Lecturer at NGU.

Mohamed holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University in 2017. Then, he obtained a MA in International Relations from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri. His master’s thesis is titled “The Saudi Intervention in Yemen: A Regional Rivalry or Geopolitical Necessity.” At present, he is a Political Science Ph.D. candidate at Cairo University. He is currently a full-time Assistant Lecturer of Political Science at Newgiza University.

Prior to joining NGU, Mohamed worked as a Student Assistant at Webster University-Thailand Campus.

His research interests include international relations, foreign policy analysis, international law, geopolitics, war and diplomacy, women and politics, and feminist international relations.

Dina Abdelhafiz is an Assistant Lecturer of Economics at Newgiza University. She holds a master’s degree in development economics from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. Her research interests include development economics, gender economics, financial inclusion, and firm innovation. Prior to academia, she worked at the National Bank of Egypt in foreign exchange and fixed income trading, gaining extensive experience in financial markets and treasury operations.

Mariam Hegazy is currently an Assistant Lecturer in Statistics and Mathematics at Newgiza University. She earned her MSc in Statistics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University in 2024. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the same institution. Her areas of interest include biostatistics, applied statistics, and machine learning algorithms. Mariam has also designed and delivered workshops on several statistical software packages, including STATA, R, SPSS, and SmartPLS.

Sama has gained her B.Sc. in Political Science from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University 2021. Her research interests include international and regional affairs, Middle Eastern politics, gender politics, and the history of modern political thought. She is currently a full-time teaching assistant at NGU.

Muhammad is currently working as a teaching assistant of political science at NGU. He obtained a bachelor’s degree with honors in political science from Faculty of Economics and Political Science FEPS at Cairo University in 2018. Muhammad is currently doing his masters in political science at FEPS, working on a thesis titled “Determinants of Electoral Manipulation in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes”.

Before NGU, Muhammad worked for 18 months at the information and decision-support center IDSC of the Egyptian Cabinet, followed by 7 months at the General Secretariat of the Cabinet as a researcher.

Muhammad’s research interests include comparative politics, quantitative research methods, political economy, and authoritarian and hybrid regimes.

Fatma had her B.Sc. in Economics in 2019 from the faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo university. She worked at the faculty of Management Sciences in Modern University for Sciences and Arts (MSA). She is currently pursuing her master’s thesis entitled “What Determines Human Capital Development in The Era of Digitalization Empirical Evidence from Selected MENA Region Countries”. Fatma’s Research interests are Developmental economics, Gender inequality, Macroeconomics, Behavioral economics, Microeconomics, Labor Economics, Education Economics, Environment Economics. She is currently a full-time teaching assistant at NGU.

Nour has earned bachelor’s degree in economics from Newgiza University (NGU) in collaboration with King’s College London (KCL), building a strong foundation in economic theory and quantitative analysis within an international academic framework. With over two years of experience as a Teaching Assistant, she has strengthened her analytical and communication skills by simplifying complex economic concepts for diverse audiences. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in law and economics at Cairo University (FEPS) in partnership with University of Hamburg (UHH). As a CFA Level I candidate, she is deepening her expertise in corporate finance, investment analysis, financial markets, and regulatory frameworks, reinforcing her interdisciplinary focus on the interaction between legal systems and market performance.

Yousria Ahmed Dabous is a Teaching Assistant in Political Science at the School of Economics and Politics at Newgiza University. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in political science at Cairo University, after completing her BSc in Political Science from Newgiza University (2020–2024).

Her academic background has cultivated a strong and sustained interest in political theory, international relations, diplomacy, and comparative politics. Her research interests focus on comparative politics, political theory, and real-world policymaking, with special attention to governance, international institutions, multilateral diplomacy, and regional politics in the Middle East and Europe. Her work applies theoretical frameworks to analyze political institutions and policy outcomes, aiming to bridge the gap between political theory and practical policy implementation.

In October 2025, she participated in the work of the Permanent Delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt to UNESCO, where she supported Egypt’s diplomatic engagement in multilateral discussions related to education, culture, science, and heritage policy. She attended sessions of the UNESCO Executive Board, observed intergovernmental negotiations, and contributed to drafting briefing notes and analytical reports.