A leading figure in the Arab culture and art scenes, H.E. Shaikha Mai has spearheaded national efforts to develop the cultural infrastructure in the Kingdom of Bahrain for heritage conservation. Being the President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, she has successfully brought the Pearling Path (2012) and The Dilmun Burial mounds (2019) to be inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Renowned as a local historian whose work has been published both in Bahrain and internationally, her pioneering work has been widely recognized. She is the recipient of the France Légion d’Honneur, the Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Grand Officer), the Order of the Italian Star, the First Class Order of Merit from H.M. King Hamad of Bahrain, and bestowed the Special Ambassador of Sustainability for Development (2017- 2019) by UN World Tourism Organization, and nominated in 2019 as “the Arab Heritage Personality of 2019” by the Arab Tourism Media Centre.