Dr. Khelil received Doctorate degree in Nuclear Physics from North Texas State University, Denton, Texas where she was the first woman to get such a degree in the state of Texas.
She taught at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, North Texas State University, University of Algiers, Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina and George Washington University. She was Visiting Researcher at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD.
She was a founding member of the Union of Palestinian American Women and served as its first president, was one of the founding members of the Palestinian American Congress and served as its National president, as well as the Arab Women’s Council Research and Education Fund. She served on the National Board of Directors of the United Holy Land Fund, the Interreligious Committee on Peace in the Middle East, American Task Force on Palestine, National president of ROOTS, the Palestine Youth Organization, vice president of the Muslim Women Association, member of AAI National Policy Council, and co-coordinator of the Dialogue Project between American Jewish and Palestinian Women. She served on the Board of Directors of Partners for Peace, member of the National Board of Directors of the Rainbow Coalition, member of the Board of Directors of U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East, member of the executive committee of the U.N. North American Coordinating Committee for the Non- Governmental Organizations on the Question of Palestine,
Currently Dr. Khelil serves on the Board of Directors of the United Palestinian Appeal (UPA), and is the Chairperson of the National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA),
As president of the Arab Women’s Council Research and Education Fund, she three times led groups of American high school students on trips to different countries in the Middle East in an effort to get them to understand the Palestinian Question. As the President of ROOTS the Palestine Youth Organization, she was involved in organizing annual trips for Palestinian American youth to visit Palestine, Also ROOTS organized an annual summer camp for Palestinian and Arab American Youth where the councilors conducted workshops in teaching, Arabic, brief background of the history of the region, and Debka.
Dr. Khelil was listed twice in Marquis “Who’s Who of American Women” and Who’s Who in the Arab-American Community. She was the recipient of Life Time Achievement Award by the American Task Force on Palestine as well as” Honoree of the Palestinian American Community” awarded by the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States. Dr. Khelil is married with two children and seven grandchildren.