The Influential First Ladies of the Middle East Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria and wife of President Bashar al-Assad, is photographed at the Bristol hotel Dec. 11, 2010 in Paris. Al-Assad, the daughter of a Syrian cardiologist and from a prominent family, attained a computer science degree from King's College London. She started working at Deutsche Bank but moved to Syria after marrying in 2000. They have three children. Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images