Nobel prize winners program in King Saud University is one of the important promoting programs through which the university attracted a number of outstanding Nobel prize winners in various scientific specializations including medicine, physics, chemistry and economics.
Nobel winners program in King Saud University is designed to prompt Saudi scientific research and development movement forward in addition to activate university role in transforming the Kingdom economy to a knowledge- based one, strengthening University consulting as well as research facilities with high-qualified experts.
Cooperation between the University and Nobel winners includes establishing strategic research partnership with them and their scientific institutes, executing scientific co-researches with University well-qualified professors, supervising postgraduate students and scientific lecturing as well .The university signed agreements with 25 outstanding scientists in many scientific specializations to enable University lecturers to get Master degrees and PhDs. Not only will those agreements enable about 600 male and female lecturers in King Saud University to study abroad and, later, join the University staff but Nobel scientists are to supervise some postgraduate students in different scientific specializations as well.
Professor Muhammad Younis
Professor Muhammad Younis, Gramen Bank founder and 2007 peace Nobel winner, is one of those who signed with the University to work part-timer .Professor Younis is internationally famous for his rich experience in banking against poverty in society. To be a member of the University staff is qualitative addition to strengthen educational and research programs in his specialization.
Professor Roy Gloper
King Saud University also signed services contract with , 2005 Nobel prize winner, Professor Roy Gloper to benefit from his big scientific experience, for cooperation in physics research, to supervise physics postgraduate students not to mention promoting physics postgraduate programs.
Professor Tudor Hanch visit
German Professor of physics Tudor Hanch, 2005 Nobel winner in developing spectrum laser measuring to define light waves emitted from atoms and molecules, a manager of max blank institute for blindness optics and one of the world prominent physicians in Germany, is among those who signed with the University. He lectured in a workshop about NANO research in universities entitled “The way to make Custodian of the two Holy Mosques’ view real”, organized by the King’s university.
Professor Carl Waeman
King Saud University signed an agreement with Professor Carl Waeman, 2001 Nobel winner for physics, manager of Carl Waeman initiative for science tuition in Colorado University, USA. Waeman attended activities of international workshop in Science and Mathematics Tuition Development Center and lectured about science and mathematics development in universities .
Professor Ahmed Zuel
The university hosted Professor Ahmed Zuel, chemistry 1999 Nobel winner, as well. He warmly appreciated the University direction to attract prominent Nobel winner scientists in all scientific specializations, and its current promotion programs, notifying that attracting those scientists is the challenge by which universities try to achieve scientific rise.
Professor Fen Kedland
A few days earlier, the University signed services agreement with professor Fen Kedland, economics 2004 Nobel winner, as an experienced economist. Accordingly, Kedland is a visitor professor to the University. Being one of the staff, Kedland is a qualitative addition to strengthen educational and research programs in his specialization.
Professor James Joseph Hackman
In the same direction, the University signed an agreement recently with Professor James Joseph Hackman , economics 2000 Nobel winner, for academic and research cooperation in economics.
Professor Richard Shrok
Similarly, King Saud University hosted Professor Richard Shrok, chemistry 2005 Nobel winner, and signed services agreement with him. Professor Richard Shrok lectured publicly and generally about his own scientific specialization, where some prominent officials, the University staff and postgraduate students attended.
Professor Gross
The University signed services agreement with Professor David Gross, physics 2004 Nobel winner, now manager of Cafily institute for theoretical physics, California university ,Santa Barbara. Professor David Gross admired the new thinking of both the Kingdom and King Saud university. He offered some suggestions to activate promotion programs in the university including necessity of active participation of the staff in research and promotion, offering incentives, review of tuition load on the staff, linking incentives, given by University, with lessening tuition load for excellent researchers to be devoted for research and invention.
Professor Gross suggested to plan strategically for promoting scientific departments in accordance with the new perspective of the University and to form committees of specialist experts, offering to be a chairman of a suggested committee to review and evaluate physics department in faculty of science. Professor Gross delivered a scientific lecture entitled ( future of physics) in the headquarter of King Saud University.
Worthy mentioning, the attraction of Nobel winners to King Saud University has strengthened relations between the University and many foreign scientific institutions establishing social University partnership. For instance, some Nobel winner economists, whom the university contracted with, held extended meetings with ministries of finance, planning, economy, labor and other officials in both general and private sectors, which led to a group of agreements to embark university-sponsored studies.