Nagla Samir is the director of the Graphic Design program and associate professor of practice at The American University in Cairo (AUC). She received her PhD in visual communication in 2002, from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Cairo. She holds an MA in advertising and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design.

Samir worked as a graphic designer then creative director since graduation until 2002, when she joined academia. Teaching in several institutions, she has joined the launching program of graphic design at AUC as an adjunct faculty, then as a full-time faculty in 2016.

She leads a parallel career as an interdisciplinary media artist and cultural curator. She founded and directed Passage 35 for contemporary art 2006-2009, directed the Sharjah Art Gallery 2010-2011, and is currently an independent international curator.