Born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, Adil Bouhelal is an academic who earned his Ph.D. in solid state physics and spent most of his teaching career in Montpellier, France. A voracious reader, he presently leads charitable actions in Morocco focused on raising awareness of the physical sciences among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2015 he cofounded Club Gibran, a cultural association that works for the rapprochement of the two shores of the Mediterranean.