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21°29′38″N 39°15′1″E / 21.49389°N 39.25028°E / 21.49389; 39.25028

King Abdulaziz University (KAU) (Template:Lang-ar) is a public university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1967 as a private university, by a group of businessmen led by Muhammad Abu Bakr Bakhashab and including writer Hamza Bogary. In 1974, King Abdulaziz University was converted to a public university by a decision of the Council Ministers of Saudi Arabia under then-King Faisal's orders. In 2016, it was ranked the #1 Arab university by Times Higher Education. King Abdulaziz University has been placed in the top 200 universities in the world by four major ranking tables.

History

Private university

In the year 1964, the idea of establishing a private university in the city of Jeddah was originally put forward by Egyptian Mohamed Ali Hafez. In the same year, a preparatory committee of 6 members was formed, including Mohamed Ali Hafez and Muhammad Abu Bakr Bakhashab. Shortly after, then-Crown Prince Faisal officially approved the idea. In 1965, the university's executive committee was formed. In 1966, the KAU held a competition to design their logo. The winning design was submitted by Adbul-Halim Radwi, a local artist from Jeddah.

In the year 1967, King Abdulaziz University was officially established as a private university, with goals to spread higher education in the western region of Saudi Arabia. Prior to this date, there were no higher-education institutions in Jeddah. These goals were met through efforts of high-ranking businessmen and notable Saudi figures; and additionally with the help of King Faisal's encouragement and financial support. The university started its first academic year in 1968, with a relatively small number of students (68 male - 30 female). In 1969, the first faculty was established (Faculty of Economics and Administration). In 1970, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities was established.

Public university (1974-Present)

In 1974, the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia decided to merge the university with the government; converting it to a public university. This major decision spurred the impressive transformation to where the university stands today. King Abdulaziz University has further witnessed tremendous quantitative and qualitative progress in terms of enrollment and diversity of academic programs. It is now recognized as a world-class university due to its international outreach and collaboration in research, innovation, accreditations and rankings. It does this while continuing to maintain its traditional commitment to delivering outstanding education and community service. As of 2017, it had almost 31,000 students, of which 28% are international, and is considered to be one of the best universities in the Arab world.

The building's construction was designed by Bangladeshi-American architect Fazlur Rahman Khan.

In 2018, it was ranked the 1st Arab university by Times Higher Education due to very strong citation impact and highly international outlook. It also ranked no. 1 in percentage of total publications with international collaboration, according to US News rankings.

Research Programs

Between 2004 and 2014, King Abdulaziz University enacted a program to attract the international community and has welcomed nearly 150 researches or various disciplines. The university has developed international research partners, including in Morocco where it has developed a joint lunar research program with the Astronomic Observatory of Oukaïmeden. The university has 13 different research centers, predominantly in the fields of medicine (medical genomes and osteoperosis), environment and energy, climate change, and desalination.

Founded in the 1970s by Sami Angawi, the research center on pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj Research Center) conducts a series of works around the religious event, notably on the aspects of logistics surrounding the pilgrimage.

Faculties

Faculty of Engineering

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Faculty of Economics and Administration

The Faculty of Economics and Administration was the first college to be established in King Abdulaziz University, and until this day it is called "The Base of Founder's University," referring to the founder of the country.

• Department of Business Administration
• Department of Finance
• Department of Marketing
• Department of Human Resource Management
• Department of Accounting
• Department of Management Information Systems
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Health Administration
• Department of Public Administration
• Department of Economics
• Department of Law (defunct in 2012; separated into a new faculty)

In 2015, FEA received its fourth international accreditation, the AACSB making it one of the top business colleges in the middle east and across the world.

Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law was established in 2012 as it segregated from Faculty of Economics and Administration.

• Public Law
• Private Law

Other faculties

• Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Arts and Humanities
• Faculty of Communication and Media
• Faculty of Computing and Information Technology
• Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture
• Faculty of Nursing
• Faculty of Sciences
• Faculty of Pharmacy
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Earth Sciences
• Faculty of Environmental Designs
• Faculty of Home Economics
• Faculty of Marine Sciences
• Faculty of Tourism
• Faculty of Maritime Studies

Ranking

Template:Infobox world university ranking King Abdulaziz University is ranked between 101-150 since 2016 by Academic Ranking of World Universities Furthermore, according to U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, King Abdulaziz University is ranked 76 in 2019. And according to World University Rankings, King Abdulaziz University is ranked at number 186 since 2016 in the world's top universities ranking by the London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

KAU has faced criticism for allegedly paying highly cited researchers from around the world to cite KAU as a "secondary academic affiliation" in order to boost their rankings.

Awards & Accreditations

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2019)

Notable alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (November 2018)

• Nahed Taher, Saudi founder and chief executive officer of Gulf One Investment Bank, which has its headquarters in Bahrain. In 2006, Forbes magazine ranked Taher 72nd in the list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.
• Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, Saudi billionaire economist, owner of Al Rajhi Bank, the 38th richest person in the world
• Adel Fakeih, Saudi billionaire engineer and former mayor of Jeddah.
• Manal al-Sharif, Saudi women's rights activist.
• Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Muslim scholar, teaches in the university; Bin Bayyah holds a Mauritanian citizenship
• Adel Al-Hussain, BS, Bachelor's degree in Accounting with honors, (1992)
• Amr Dabbagh, Saudi economist and businessman. Member of World Economic Forum and founder of Jeddah Economic Forum
• Shalimar Sharbatly, abstract artist
• Said Aqil Siradj, leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, world's largest Islamic organization in Indonesia

See also

• List of universities in Saudi Arabia
• Umm al-Qura University
• King Saud University
• Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University
• Islamic University of Madinah

References

1. "جامعة الملك عبدالعزيز - تاريخنا". Kau.edu.sa. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
2. King Abdulaziz University list of founders.
3. "Arab universities: The kingdom is king". The Economist. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
4. "King Abdulaziz University signs 3-year partnership with The Undergraduate Awards". Undergraduateawards.com. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
5. "King Abdulaziz University". Timeshighereducation.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
6. Kilpatrick, Ryan. "Google Doodle Honors Bangladeshi-American Engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan". TIME. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
7. Aarti Nagraj (21 March 2018). "Revealed: Top 10 universities in the Arab region". Gulfbusiness.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
8. "King Abdulaziz University". Usnews.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
9. "Entretien avec le directeur de l'Observatoire astronomique de l'Oukaïmeden". Lematin.ma (in French). 26 February 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
10. "Research staff". Kau.edu.sa. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
11. "Stampede near Mecca kills at least 717 pilgrims". Chicagotribune.com. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. King Abdulaziz University - website Academic Ranking of World Universities
14. Cite error: The named reference USNWR 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. "King Abdulaziz University (KAU)". Top Universities. 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
16. "King Abdulaziz University". Times Higher Education (THE). 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
17. "Citations for sale". The Daily Californian. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
18. "Manipulating Citation Rankings". Inside Higher Ed. 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2019-09-01.

External links

• King Abdulaziz University Website
• KAU ranking from Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
• Faculty of Design and Arts

• 1967 establishments in Saudi Arabia
• King Abdulaziz University
• Educational institutions established in 1967
• Education in Jeddah
• Universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia
• Arab inventions
• Bangladeshi inventions
• Egyptian inventions