Since its foundation, King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) has been striving to occupy and maintain its rightful place in the world through efforts to expand and upgrade elements of development, and to improve performance in all fields, namely academic, research, and community service. In order to achieve this, studies were conducted and many approaches and means were utilized to achieve the desired goals. Among these was the idea of establishing an international advisory board (IAB) consisting of a distinguished elite of world leaders in the fields of higher education and industry from Europe, America, and Asia, aiming to get benefits from the viewpoints, attitudes, and experiences of the various international schools of thought related to issues concerning the institution. Following the example of most prestigious international universities, KAU has been selecting over the years, a number of academics and industrialists of high positions in their country of origin to share their expertise in all aspects that could help the university achieve its educational and research goals, and service to its community.

The IAB was intentionally formed from members of different geographical and cultural backgrounds in order to get maximum benefit from the various scientific schools and international experiences. It was established by decree from the Saudi Higher Education Council and by Royal approval in 2010. Since then, its Secretariat-General took active steps to organize the first board meeting held a year later, marking an important point in KAU’s journey of becoming a world-class university.

KAU continues looking forward to additional benefits from board members’ contributions reflected in university achievements realized or accelerated due to recommendations compatible with the Saudi Vision 2030.