Amin Mahmoud () (born 1940) is a Jordanian politician, educator and author. He has served three times as a member of the cabinet of Ministers of Jordan (also notably served as Deputy Prime minister and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research), once as a member of the XXIV Senate of Jordan, and is currently serving as a member of the XXVI senate council. He has also held the position of president of four Jordanian universities. His written works include a wide range of books, research papers and published articles in the fields of history, education and other public issues.
Early life and education
Amin Mahmoud was born in Bethlehem, West Bank, in 1940. His family was of modest means, but his father placed great value on education, making sure that young Amin attended Bethlehem High School despite a three kilometre walking commute each day. At the age of 18 he finished high school and left the West Bank to study history at the Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. On completion of his history degree, he taught briefly at Aroub, Jordan, then from 1963 to 1966 at the Rashidiya school in Jerusalem.
After winning a scholarship grant under the Fulbright Program Amin Mahmoud left the Middle East in 1966, to study in the United States at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. where he was awarded a Master's degree in Modern history and International relations in 1968. A further grant was awarded to continue studies at the same university, this time for a doctorate, which he gained in Modern history in 1972.
During his time in the United States, the events of the Six-Day War in 1967 and the subsequent Palestinian Exodus had dramatically changed Amin Mahmoud's homeland, with the displacement of around 300,000 of his countrymen to Jordan, and it was to Jordan, not the West Bank, that he would return in 1972.
Early career and teaching
Dr Mahmoud further developed his initial career in education while studying in the United States in the late 1960s, taking the position of research and teaching assistant at the Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. in 1969 and continuing in that role until 1972 when he returned to the Middle East after receiving his doctorate. He then began a lengthy tenure as a teacher of history and political science at the University of Jordan, in Amman, from 1972 until 1984. During this time, he served as President of the Jordan University Club in 1977, with remit for the university's social and external events. Upon receiving his professorship in 1986 at the University of Kuwait, he remained there as Professor of History and Political Science until 1990. Throughout his later career as an educator, he has also worked as a visiting professor at several universities across the Arab region.
University presidencies and other notable appointments
Dr Mahmoud has held several senior positions in academia, including the presidencies of four universities in Jordan. After more than a decade in teaching, he founded the Center for Hebrew Studies in 1984 in collaboration with Yarmouk University, Jordan – this was the country's first educational establishment to focus on Israeli affairs, and was uncommon at that time in the Arab region as a whole. He also served as director of the center from 1984 to 1986 before returning to Kuwait University to become a professor.
In 1990, he returned to a founding role in Jordan, establishing the Jordan University for Women where he spent the next three years as director until 1993. The university eventually became part of Petra University in Amman, as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He would return to Petra University ten years later, serving as president from 2003 to 2005. During that ten-year period, in addition to beginning his political career, he also held two other university presidencies; firstly at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan from 1994 to 1995, and then at Al-Ahliyya Amman University between 1995 and 2002.
Other notable appointments held by Dr Mahmoud include Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, President of the Board of Trustees of the German Jordanian University from 2009 to 2013 and chairman of the board of directors for the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation.