Dr. Najah Ashry has been vice president of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, since March 2011. 

She joined KAUST in 2008 as a senior assistant for provost graduate affairs. In August 2010, she became executive director of Saudi Initiatives and founder of the program between August 2010 and March 2012 before being promoted to her current position. 

Before her 10 years at KAUST, Ashry served as dean of the female section at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah for two years (2006-2008), providing vision and strategic direction to two campuses, nine colleges and faculties, seven deanships, and a number of centers, institutions, and administrations. 

She obtained a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Seattle University in the US, and a master’s in business administration from the same university. 

In 2003, she earned her Ph.D. in management information systems and a postgraduate diploma in research methods from the University of Bradford in the UK. 

Ashry began her academic career as a lecturer in the College of Business Administration at King Abdul Aziz University. In 2003, the university appointed her as an assistant professor of management information systems.

KAUST is organizing a summer program for gifted high school students, allowing them to benefit from the university’s advanced research facilities and institutes.

Ashry said that “the journey of Saudi students to the university starts long before they proceed with their master’s and doctorate studies. The university seeks to provide the opportunities that Saudi talents need at the pre-university, university or higher studies stages.”

The program will prepare a new generation of engineers, scientists, influencers, leaders, and decision-makers, who will contribute to the developments taking place in the Kingdom, she said.