A Saudi First: Three Rhodes Scholars

KAUST’s Strategic National Advancement Young Talent programs prime the 2020 class

Three Saudi undergraduates have been awarded the prestigious Rhodes scholarship to pursue postgraduate study at the University of Oxford in fall 2021, all of whom are alumni of at least one of KAUST’s leading Young Talent Development programs. As one of the world’s most renowned and competitive scholarships, the Rhodes Trust selects just 100 international recipients annually, identifying “young leaders of outstanding intellect and character who are motivated to engage with global challenges, committed to the service of others and show promise of becoming value-driven, principled leaders for the world’s future”.

2021 also marks the first year in which three Saudi citizens were awarded scholarships within one cohort: this represents not only a truly impressive achievement for these students as individuals, but also a confirmation of the vast opportunities that the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding educational ecosystem has afforded – and that KAUST fosters everyday. Under the leadership of Dr. Najah Ashry, KAUST’s office of Strategic National Advancement (SNA) reflects the belief that a nation can best transform when its citizenry is prepared, confident and capable of driving that change. This commitment forms the foundation of SNA programs, which are holistically designed to support the long-term academic, professional and personal journeys of the next generation of Saudi thought leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs. Programs include the KAUST Gifted Student Program (KGSP), a US-based undergraduate scholarship supporting the Kingdom’s most talented youth as they earn STEM-based Bachelor’s degrees at premier US universities, and the Saudi Research Science Institute (SRSI), an eight-week summer residential program on the KAUST campus for the country’s top-performing 11th graders.

Ghadah Mohammed T. Al Shalan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2021, expected)

Ghadah has participated in multiple youth development programs sponsored by KAUST’s office of SNA. These have ranged from campus Olympiad Training Institutes (later being awarded the International Physics Olympiad bronze medal as the first female Saudi recipient), to the SRSI in 2016 where she researched solar cells under the mentorship of KAUST Professor Dr. Omar Abelsaboor. Ghadah went on to join the KGSP in fall 2017 as a freshman Physics major at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a KGSP student, Ghadah has demonstrated both academic excellence as well as pre-professional acumen, engaging in research internships both at MIT and internationally, serving as president of the MIT Arab Student Organization and aiding as a teaching assistant in the MIT Physics Department.

Omar Mohammed H. Alshangiti, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2021, expected)

Omar completed a KGSP Foundation Year at the University of Washington, during which time he gained admission to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign to major in Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering. Omar has enhanced his stellar undergraduate performance through enrichment opportunities facilitated by his participation in the KGSP, including an internship in Reservoir Engineering Technology with Aramco Americas in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as a competitive Research Experience for Undergraduates with the Center for Extreme Events Research at the University of California, San Diego.

Mneera Abdullah Saud, Brown University (2020)

Mneera completed a Foundation Year at the University of Pennsylvania through the KGSP in 2015/16. She subsequently went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Brown University in 2020. DR. NAJAH ASHRY Senior Associate to the President and Vice President for Strategic National Advancement

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