Samah Norquist

Samah Norquist (b. Samaah Alrayyes) is a Washington, D.C.-based public relations executive, and the wife of Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist.

Background and education

Born in Kuwait City, Kuwait to parents of Palestinian descent, Alrayyes and her family immigrated to the United States in 1990. She attended Northeastern University in Boston, receiving her B.S. in political science in 1995. After graduation she attended the American University of Cairo, Egypt, and received her M.A. in political science with an emphasis on international relations. Her thesis, entitled "Religion, Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy in the Third World: The Case of the Indo-Pakistani Conflict over Kashmir," dealt with the role of religion in foreign policy formation.

Islamic Free Market Institute

After completing her M.A., Alrayyes U.S. she became director of communications at Grover Norquist's Islamic Free Market Institute (IFMI) in Washington, DC. Shortly thereafter she became cultural affairs assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, where she was responsible for cultural exchange programs between the United States and Jordan.

Samah Alrayyes and Grover Norquist married on April 2, 2005, whereupon she took the name Samah Norquist.

USAID

In late 2005 Norquist became Public Affairs Specialist for Arab and Muslim outreach at the Bureau of Legislative and Public affairs at United States Agency for International Development (USAID), focusing on Muslim and Arab outreach in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle and Near East and in other parts of the Muslim world where AID is present. Norquist is a native Arabic speaker and she has worked in the United States, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar.

References

* [http://www.naaponline.org/conference05/speakers.cfm#SamahAlrayyes Speakers at the 3rd NAAP Conference - Samah Norquist]