King Abdulaziz University

King Abdulaziz University (KAU) (Arabic: جامعة الملك عبد العزيز‎) 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.[2] 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 2021, it is ranked the #1 Arab university by Times Higher Education.[3] King Abdulaziz University has been placed in the top 200 universities in the world by four major ranking tables.

Not to be confused with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

King Abdulaziz University (KAU)
جامعة الملك عبد العزيز
Mottoاقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
"Read! In the name of your Lord Who created" [Qur'an], C:96. V:1
EndowmentUS$1 billion
PresidentAbdulrahman Obaid AI-Youbi
Administrative staff
4,000
Students82,152[1]
Location
Jeddah
,
Makkah
,
Saudi Arabia
CampusBoth urban and rural
NicknameKAU
Websitewww.kau.edu.sa
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia played a significant role in King Abdulaziz University's success.

History

Private university

In the year 1964, the idea of establishing a private university in the city of Jeddah was originally put forward by Mohammed Ali Hafiz. In the same year, a preparatory committee of 6 members was formed, including Mohamed Ali Hafiz 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 Abdul-Halim Radwi, a local artist from Jeddah.[4]

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.[5]

The building's construction was designed by Bangladeshi-American architect Fazlur Rahman Khan.[6]

In 2018, it was ranked the 1st Arab university by Times Higher Education due to very strong citation impact and highly international outlook.[7] It also ranked no. 1 in percentage of total publications with international collaboration, according to US News rankings.[8]

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.[9] The university has 13 different research centers, predominantly in the fields of medicine (medical genomes and osteoperosis), environment and energy, climate change, and desalination.[10]

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.[11]

Faculties
University yard
Empty classrooms
Classroom with TV cameras, for remote teaching

Faculty of Engineering

These programs are accredited by ABET as Substantially Equivalent Programs since 2003.[12]

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

Research groups
University rankings

There are many research groups in King Abdulaziz university[13]

  • Economic and Market group.
  • Saudi Diabetes Research Group
  • Oral-Dental Deformities and cleft lip and palate group.
  • Software engineering and distributed systems group.
  • Nonlinear Analysis and Applied Mathematics group.
  • Renewable Energy (REG) group.
  • Use of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Technology to Treat Diseases group.
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease group.
  • The effects of environmental pollutants on prenatal and postnatal development group.
  • Biotechnology group.
  • Dental Restorative Bio-Materials, Bio-Mechanics & Adhesion (DRBBA) group.
  • Engineering Management and Quality improvement group.
  • Process integration in industrial operations (PIIO) group.
  • Information Security group.
  • Advances in composites, Synthesis and applications group.
  • Infectious disease group.
  • Clinical Nutrition group.
  • Surface Chemistry and Catalytic Studies (SCCS) group.
  • Communication Systems and Networks group.
  • Plant Biology group.
  • Laser Applications group.
  • Computational Chemistry Group.
  • Diagnostic and Therapeutic Engineering group.
  • Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems group.
  • Bioactive Natural products group.
  • Medicinal Plants group.
  • Production of bio products for industrial applications group.
  • Bio-organic farming group.
  • Applied linguistics in European languages group.
  • Recent technology in dentistry group.
  • Lithography in devices fabrication and development group.
  • Plankton Research Group.
  • Physiological and Biometric Signal Processing group.
  • Conservation of aquatic biological resources group.
  • Water Resources (WRRG) group.
  • Metal oxides group.
  • Operator Theory and Applications group.
  • Carbon Nanostructures group.
  • Vitamin D Pharmacogenomics group.
  • Saudi Coastal Mapping & Monitoring group.
  • Sustainable Green Chemistry group.
  • Embryonic and Cancer Stem Cells group.
  • Oral Epidemiology and Genetics group.
  • Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Children and Adults group.
  • Solar Physics group.
  • Statistical Inference and Its Applications group.
  • Cloud Computing and Big Data group.

Ranking
University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[14]101-150 (2020)
CWTS World[15]232 (2020)
QS World[16]143 (2021)
THE World[17]201-250 (2021)
USNWR Global[18]51 (2020)
Regional – Overall
QS Arab region[19]1 (2020)
USNWR Arab countries[20]1 (2020)

King Abdulaziz University is ranked between 101-150 since 2020 by Academic Ranking of World Universities[21] Furthermore, according to U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, King Abdulaziz University is ranked 51 in 2020.[18] And according to QS World University Rankings, King Abdulaziz University is ranked at number 143 in 2021[22] in the world's top universities ranking by the London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).[23]

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.[24][25]

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "King AbdulAziz University". moe.gov.sa. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. King Abdulaziz University list of founders.
  3. "World University Rankings 2021". Times Higher Education. 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.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. العلمي, عمادة البحث. "المجموعات البحثية". dsr.kau.edu.sa (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  14. Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020
  15. [url=https://www.leidenranking.com/ranking/2019/list CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019]
  16. QS World University Rankings 2021
  17. World University Rankings 2021
  18. U.S. News Education: Best Global Universities 2020
  19. QS Arab Region University Rankings 2018
  20. U.S. News Education: Best Arab Region Universities Rankings 2020
  21. King Abdulaziz University - website Academic Ranking of World Universities
  22. "King Abdulaziz University (KAU)". Top Universities. 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  23. "King Abdulaziz University". Times Higher Education (THE). 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  24. "Citations for sale". The Daily Californian. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  25. "Manipulating Citation Rankings". Inside Higher Ed. 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  26. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/bio.html
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