King Saud University transforms into independent non-profit academic institution

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), has issued an order on Tuesday to reconstitute the board of directors of King Saud University (KSU) of Riyadh.

The order was based on a royal decree to convert the university into an independent, non-profit academic institution, under the umbrella of RCRC, and that is in line with a recommendation of the Crown Prince.

The university’s board of directors will be headed by Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan while Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi will be the deputy chairman of the board. The members of the board include minister of communications and information technology; minister of transport and logistics; minister of industry and mineral resources; president of the University; president of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence; Fahd Al-Rasheed; CEO of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center; governor of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at); CEO of the Riyadh Non-Profit Foundation; president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority; chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Saudi Chambers; representative of the Public Investment Fund; Salman Al-Sudairi; Tal Nazer, and Jomana Al-Rashed.

For his part, Al-Benyan appreciated the leadership’s support for university education in Saudi Arabia. He also stressed the board’s keenness to achieve a quantum leap in the university’s march on the basis of empowerment, excellence and quality, and to develop the educational and research process, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Eng. Ibrahim Al-Sultan, acting CEO of RCRC, praised the care and attention that the leadership attaches to the education sector in Saudi Arabia and the development of national cadres. He also underscored the vision of the Crown Prince in transforming the university into an independent, non-profit academic institution as a key enabler for achieving its goal to be among the leading universities in the world by 2030.

The Crown Prince’s vision also entails that the university is to be supportive of the transformation journey that will contribute to improving the quality of education and its outputs, in addition to attracting talents, competencies and the brightest minds, and preparing a generation characterized by the highest skills to meet the requirements of the 21st century. This is also to ensure that its outputs are aligned with the orientations of Kingdom, which will contribute to making the capital one of the largest city economies in the world.

It is noteworthy that the university aims to serve education in Riyadh in particular and in Saudi Arabia in general, and seeks to be a leading institution regionally and globally in the field of university education to contribute to the development of the national economy. It also works to meet the needs of the labor market and the knowledge economy to align its business with advancing the process of growth and development, promoting scientific research, innovation and creativity, and leadership in various academic and applied fields.

As the first university established in Saudi Arabia, KSU’s focus is on quality education, scientific research and entrepreneurship, to prepare its graduates by developing their skills and abilities for lifelong learning, and arming them with knowledge to become the nation’s future leaders. It also aspires to spread and enhance knowledge in Saudi Arabia to expand the base of scientific and literary studies, and then keep pace with the leading countries in the fields of arts and sciences, and work to contribute to discoveries and inventions.