Hesham Qandil

Hesham Mohamed Qandil (also spelled: Hisham Kandil&#x202f;; هشام محمد قنديل ) (born 17 September 1962) is the former Prime Minister of Egypt. He was appointed by President Mohammed Morsi on 24 July 2012. Qandil was Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation from 2011 to 2012. Reuters reported that Qandil was a politically independent senior public servant in the Morsi administration, but was not popularly considered to be a likely candidate for the position of Prime Minister. Qandil is Egypt's youngest prime minister since Gamal Abdel Nasser's appointment in 1954.

Early life and education
Qandil was born in 1962. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering, which he obtained from Cairo University in 1984. Then he received a master's degree in irrigation and drainage engineering from Utah State University in 1988 and a PhD in biological and agricultural engineering with a minor in water resources from North Carolina State University in 1993.

Career
After graduation, Qandil joined the Egyptian civil service in the Water Resources Department in 1985. From 1999 to 2005 he served as the office director for the minister of water resources. Qandil also held several positions. He participated in the work of the Nile Basin Initiative, and was an observer member of the Egyptian - Sudanese joint Nile water. He was also Chief of Water Resources, African Development Band, a position in which he worked for approximately 6 years (2004- early 2011). He returned to Egypt after the revolution to help build up the new country. In 2011, he was to be announced as the minister of water resources and the Nile Basin (as part of Essam Sharaf's second Cabinet). Qandil was the minister of water resources and irrigation when he obtained a PhD from North Carolina State University.

Prime Minister of Egypt
On 24 July 2012, Qandil was designated by Mohamed Morsi to be the prime minister of Egypt. His appointment was seen as unexpected by the Arab media, including The Majalla. On 2 August 2012, he took office as the new prime minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt. He formed a technocrat-dominated government, with a few political parties (FJP, AWT, ANA)

First Qandil Cabinet
The first cabinet of Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was presented on 2 August 2012. Qandil was appointed by president Mohamed Morsi, after the resignation of military-named premier Kamal Ganzouri. The cabinet consist in 35 ministers. The composition of the government is formed by technocrats, the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party, moderate Al-Wasat Party and the salafist Renaissance Party.
 * See; Qandil Cabinet

Second Qandil Cabinet
On 6 January 2013, ten ministers in the first cabinet of Qandil were changed. The reshuffle included ministry of finance, ministry of local development, ministry of transportation, ministry of legal affairs and parliamentary councils, ministry of electricity, ministry of interior, ministry of supply and social affairs, ministry of environment, ministry of communications and ministry of civil aviation. After reshuffle, the number of the ministers who are member of the Freedom and Justice Party increased to eight in the cabinet.

Resignations
On July 2, 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood had asked Qandil and his ministers belonging to the Islamist group to quit in order to give Morsi a chance to negotiate with opposition groups demanding his removal. Qandil and five cabinet members resigned together; they were Hisham Zazou, the tourism minister, Atef Helmi, the communications and IT minister, Hatem Bagato, the state minister for legal and parliamentary affairs, Abdel Qawy Khalifa, the water minister, and Khaled Abdel Aal, the environment minister. Mohamed Kamel Amr, the foreign minister, resigned as well.

Personal life
Qandil is married and has five daughters.