Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum

Position: Deputy ruler of Dubai, UAE minister of industry and finance; founder, Al-Maktoum Institute, Dundee

Biography: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum is the deputy ruler of Dubai and has been the UAE’s minister of industry and finance since 1971.

In 1999, Sheikh Hamdan invited a delegation from the Islamic Research Academy to Dubai to discuss an institute for Islamicjerusalem studies, the -discussion of culture and religion within a geographic context. In October 2000, he agreed to sponsor a new institute for postgraduate studies in the field. In 2004, the Al-Maktoum Institute, based in Dundee, was opened.

Dundee was subsequently twinned with Dubai, and plays host to two annual schools for visiting Emirati students. Sheikh Hamdan was appointed deputy ruler of Dubai in 1995 by his brother, the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Contact: +971 672 6000