The character arc of Rana Dajani
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in Jordan, in a year the record does not publish, to a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother. Between then and now sit a certificate from the University of London in 1985, a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Iowa, a tenured professorship at Hashemite University, expertise in the genetics of the Circassian and Chechen populations of Jordan, genome-wide studies of diabetes and cancer, a national stem cell ethics law that grew out of her work, two Fulbright awards, fellowships at Harvard and Yale, a national honour, and a reading movement that has trained over seven thousand women. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Rana Dajani?
She wrote the law from the laboratory. Then she taught the reading.
She was born to a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother and holds a Jordanian passport, and when asked about her nationality she describes herself as half Palestinian and half Syrian with a Jordanian passport. She took a General Certificate of Education from the University of London in 1985 and went on to a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Iowa.
She is a tenured professor of biology and biotechnology at Hashemite University in Jordan, and an expert on the genetics of the Circassian and Chechen populations there, as well as on genome-wide association studies of diabetes and cancer in stem cells. Studying small, distinct populations is unfashionable and slow and it is how a great deal of real genetics gets done.
The consequence of that work went beyond publications. Her research in stem cells initiated the development of the Stem Cell Research Ethics Law and all its regulations in Jordan, which means a working scientist produced the legal framework her own country now uses to govern the field.
She is a Fulbright alumna twice over, was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, held an Eisenhower Fellowship, was a visiting professor at the Yale Stem Cell Center and a visiting scholar at Cambridge and at a stem cell therapy centre in Jordan, and from 2019 to 2021 held a visiting scholarship at a school of leadership studies in Richmond. She is president of the Society for Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World, sits on a United Nations Women advisory council in Jordan, and argues publicly for biological evolution in relation to Islam.
And then there is the other half. She is the founder and director of We Love Reading, a programme that tries to make young children in the Arab world love reading for its own sake rather than for school. Through it she has trained over seven thousand women to read aloud, in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and established libraries across Jordan. A magazine has called her one of the most influential women scientists in the Islamic world, and she was ranked thirteenth on a list of the hundred most powerful Arab women. She holds Jordan Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions, and has four children.
The moments
Rana Dajani's timeline.
The 1980s
A certificate from London
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The first qualification on the record.
The 1990s
Half and half, with a passport
Everyday, and it changed everything. Her own description of where she is from.
The 2000s
A doctorate in Iowa
Milestone, and it changed everything. Molecular biology, taken in the American midwest.
A professorship at Hashemite
Milestone, and it changed everything. Tenured, at home.
Two populations, mapped
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two small populations, studied properly.
The 2010s
A law comes out of a laboratory
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her research produced her country legal framework.
Stay in the laboratory, or start the reading
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: run both, taken, or keep to the science. Over seven thousand women trained to read aloud, libraries across Jordan, and the professorship still hers.
We Love Reading
Milestone, and it changed everything. Reading for love of it, not for school.
Seven thousand readers
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seven thousand women, trained to read aloud.
Harvard, and Yale
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two Fulbrights, Harvard, Yale and Cambridge.
The Arab world science society
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She runs the regional science society.
Thirteenth on the list
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Thirteenth of a hundred, and a scientist.
A leadership scholarship
Milestone. Two years studying leadership, after leading for a decade.
The 2020s
The Order of Al Hussein
Milestone, and it changed everything. A national honour, and four children.
Seven thousand trained readers are now reading aloud to children across three countries, while the stem cell law she caused is still the one Jordan uses. What she set moving is two things at once, at the top of a hard science and at the level of a woman reading a picture book in a neighbourhood, and she treats them as the same job.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers runs two careers side by side, a laboratory and a reading movement, and neither is a hobby. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Rana Dajani: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Rana Dajani's character arc?
What is We Love Reading by Rana Dajani?
What does Rana Dajani research?
Did Rana Dajani help write a law?
What fellowships has Rana Dajani held?
How does Rana Dajani describe her nationality?
Where does this timeline of Rana Dajani's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Rana Dajani, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- The record of We Love Reading, which she founded and directs.
- The Stem Cell Research Ethics Law of Jordan and its regulations.
- Her own description of her nationality, as quoted there.