Nabilah al-Tunisi
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Oregon State University (MS)
Stanford University (SEP)
First female Chair of Tadawul
Nabilah al-Tunisi | |
|---|---|
| نبيلة التونسي | |
| Born | 1959 (age 66–67) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Alma mater | University of Portland (BS) Oregon State University (MS) Stanford University (SEP) |
| Occupations | Engineer, Executive |
| Known for | First female Chief Engineer of Saudi Aramco First female Chair of Tadawul |
| Title | Chief Engineer (2015–Present) |
| Awards | Academy of Distinguished Engineers (OSU) Forbes 200 Most Powerful Arab Women |
Nabilah al-Tunisi (born c. 1959) (Arabic:نبيلة التونسي), was the first woman to hold the title of chief engineer at Saudi Aramco. In 2017 Al-Tunisi became the first female chairman of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).[1]
The daughter of a Saudi general, Al-Tunisi grew up in Riyadh. When she was 12, her family moved to Spain where her father became a military attaché at the Saudi Embassy in Madrid. While in Spain, she attended a Spanish-American school and took Arabic lessons at night. At the age of 15, she returned and completed high school in Riyadh.[2] But at the age of 17, she moved to Portland, Oregon to study electrical engineering at Lewis & Clark College,[3] with encouragement from her parents and where her brother was also studying.[4] Al-Tunisi's fascination with computers came as she was preparing for the requisite English test.[2]
By 1980 she had gained a Bachelor in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Portland and a masters in computer engineering from Oregon State University.[4][5]
Al-Tunisi also completed the Stanford’s Executive Business Program[6] in 2007, after being rejected two decades earlier for the Master's program there in Computer engineering.[2]