THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGYMEDICINE, LAWMiddle East and North AfricaEGYPTel naggar, zaghloulEl Naggar is an important Egyptian geologist and scholar who writes and speaks on science andthe Qur’an. He is a fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences, and is well-respected by the globalscientific community for his work on geology. He has published close to 200 academic scholarlyarticles and scientific studies. He also works for the Arab Development Institute.IRANansari, anousheh [new]Anousheh Ansari is a prominent Iranian businesswoman who is chairman, CEO, and co-founder ofProdea Systems, a private US-based company which offers technological solutions for businesses.She also co-sponsored the ‘Ansari X Prize’ with other members of the Ansari family which awarded$10 million to the first NGO that launched a reusable manned spacecraft, in 2004. However shegarners most of her influence for being the first privately-funded woman, and the first Iranian,to explore space in 2006. She was lauded for leading a new era that financially advances scientificdevelopment while extending participation in space exploration to women and ‘space tourists.’salehi, dr ali akbar [new]Dr Ali Akbar Salehi was appointed as head of the Atomic Energy Organization in Iran in July 2009,after the resignation of Gholam Reza Aghazadeh. Salehi is an academic and politician who hasbeen involved in developing Iran’s nuclear energy program since prior to the Islamic revolutionin 1979. He transitioned to leading the Atomic Energy Organization after serving as a permanentrepresentative of Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency.AsiaINDIAkalam, his excellency dr a p j abdulAn engineer by profession, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is a former president of India. Beforebecoming president, Kalam was the Scientific Adviser to the Defense Minister and Secretary ofIndia’s Defense Research and Development Organization from 1992 to 1999, during which heled the weaponization of strategic missile systems and nuclear testing in collaboration with theDepartment of Atomic Energy. This moved India from being a state with nuclear technology toa state with nuclear weapons. Kalam is also author of India 2020, which presents his vision of anIndian superpower by the year 2020.INDONESIAmumpuni, tri [new]Tri Mumpuni has spent 14 years on improving rural communities in Indonesia through ruralelectrification initiatives based on developments with micro-hydro electric power plants. She andher husband have promoted a system that combines heat and power as a basis for more sustainablesources of electricity. Her influential work, which offers economic incentives for implementationof the micro-hydro system has been applied in 65 villages across Indonesia and an additionalvillage in the Philippines.151