Maryam Nawaz Sharif (born 28 October 1973) is a Pakistani politician who has served as the 19th chief minister of Punjab since 26 February 2024. She is the first woman to hold the position of chief minister in Pakistan.

Born to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore, Punjab in 1973, she began her political career in 2012 when she took charge of the PMLN's election campaign for the 2013 Pakistani general election. Following the election, she was appointed the chairperson of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme in 2013. She resigned from the position in 2014 after her appointment was challenged in the Lahore High Court, who ordered to remove her, amid allegations of nepotism and dubious academic credentials. The Attorney General, representing Maryam, attempted to use her Wikipedia page to prove her credentials. After her election to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in the controversial 2024 Pakistani general election, Maryam was appointed chief minister of Punjab.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif was born on 28 October 1973 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, to Nawaz Sharif and Kulsoom Butt. She is of Punjabi Kashmiri descent and is the eldest of four siblings, including her sister Asma.

She received her early education at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Lahore, completing pre-nursery through the 10th grade. She then completed her FSc at Lahore College for Women, graduating in 1991.

After being rejected by Kinnaird College due to poor academic standing, her father, Nawaz Sharif, then-chief minister of Punjab, intervened by suspending the principal. However, a strike organised by college students and staff led to the principal's reinstatement. Maryam subsequently enrolled in King Edward Medical College (KEMC) in the late 1980s through transfer of certificate with the intention of becoming a medical doctor.

Maryam later enrolled at Fatima Jinnah Medical College in Lahore, but did not complete her education, leaving her studies in 1992 after her marriage to Capt. Safdar Awan. She married Safdar Awan, her father's military secretary, at the age of 19. Maryam has three children with Safdar: a son, Junaid, and two daughters, Mahnoor and Mehr-un-Nisa.

Maryam claimed to have completed her undergraduate studies at the University of the Punjab, from where she stated she had a master's degree in English literature. In 2012, it was reported that she was doing her PhD degree on post-9/11 radicalization in Pakistan and was described as being fond of postcolonial writers such as Chinua Achebe and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

In 2014, the Lahore High Court questioned the validity of her master's degree in English literature and her PhD in political science. The deputy attorney general, who was representing Maryam, presented her academic credentials but withdrew them when asked whether her PhD was earned or honorary. He also said that the details presented before the court were from Wikipedia. By 2018, when submitting records to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Maryam declared only her master's degree in English literature.