Former Senator, MP, and Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Rateb Alsoud received his B.A. degree in Education from the University of Jordan (UJ) in 1977, M.A. degree in Foundation of Education from also from UJ in 1982, M.A. degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A., in 1988, and Ph.D. degree in Education Administration also from USC in 1988.
After earning his B.A. degree, Alsoud served as high school principal, counselor & teacher, in Amman, for around ten years.
He started his academic career at Mu'tah University, a public university located in Karak Governorate in Jordan, where he held different administrative positions, including Director of the Department of Continuing Education & Community Services, Deputy and Acting Dean of the School of Education.
In 1993, Alsoud was elected Member of the Jordanian Parliament (Lower House), he also served as Minister of Higher Education in the government of Dr. Abdul-Salam Majali (1994 -1995) and in the government of His Royal Highness Prince Zeid Bin Shaker (1995 -1996). Prof. Rateb was also appointed Member of the Jordanian Senate (2009 – 2010).
The UJ Professor is the Founder & President of the Jordan Society for Educational Sciences. He is also member of the World Affairs Council, Jordan Society for Scientific Research, Jordan Academic Association, and Jordan Parliament Society.
Moreover, he served and is serving as member or head of various evaluation and research committees. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the International Arab Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education, in addition to serving on the editorial board of several scientific refereed journals, and acting as certified expert for many universities and journals for evaluating scientific research of faculty members.
Alsoud is a highly accomplished scholar, with 11 published books and over 60 published peer-reviewed research studies. He has also advised and co-advised tens of Master’s and Ph.D. students in Jordanian and Arab universities, including UJ, Mu'tah University, Hashemite University, and Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies, as well Al Jinan University, Tripoli, Lebanon, and Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.