Nabilah al-Tunisi facts for kids

Nabilah al-Tunisi is a very important engineer from Saudi Arabia. She was the chief engineer for a big oil company called Saudi Aramco. In 2017, she made history by becoming the first woman to lead the Saudi Stock Exchange, which is called Tadawul.

Early Life and Education

Nabilah al-Tunisi grew up in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Her father was a general in the Saudi army. When she was 12, her family moved to Spain. Her father worked at the Saudi Embassy in Madrid. While in Spain, Nabilah went to a Spanish-American school. She also took Arabic lessons at night.

At 15, she returned to Riyadh and finished high school. When she was 17, she moved to Portland, Oregon in the United States. Her parents encouraged her to study electrical engineering at Lewis & Clark College. Her brother was also studying there. Nabilah became very interested in computers while preparing for an English test.

By 1980, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Portland. She then got a Master's degree in computer engineering from Oregon State University. Later, in 2007, she completed a special business program at Stanford University.

Career Highlights

Nabilah al-Tunisi's uncle, who was friends with the Saudi oil minister, encouraged her to apply to Saudi Aramco. This company had an office in Houston. Before joining Aramco, Nabilah looked for jobs in the technology world. She applied to companies like Microsoft and PG&E. She even turned down a job offer from Apple Inc.

In 1982, she joined Saudi Aramco as a computer systems engineer. Two years later, in 1984, she moved to the engineering and project management team. By 1996, she was in charge of planning for the company's computer systems and electrical networks.

Nabilah al-Tunisi became the General Manager of Northern Area Project Management at Saudi Aramco. She also managed one of the biggest oil and chemical projects for the company. She helped create computer programs to keep track of oil assets. She also set up automatic systems to move oil and gas.

In 2015, she became the chief engineer of Aramco. In 2018, a new company called Sadara Chemical Company opened. Nabilah al-Tunisi led this huge project, which was a partnership between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical. It took almost 10 years to plan! She is also working on a new plant that will turn crude oil into plastic products. This project is with Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation.

Currently, Nabilah al-Tunisi is a Managing Director at Neom. She works in the energy and water sector there.

Awards and Recognition

Nabilah al-Tunisi has received many honors for her work:

• In 2006, she was named one of the "25 Most Influential Women in Project Management."
• In 2010, Oregon State University welcomed her into their Academy of Distinguished Engineers.
• In 2014, Forbes Middle East magazine listed her as #4 on their list of the "200 Most Powerful Arab Women in Executive Management."
• In 2018, she was ranked 17th on the Forbes List of most influential women in the Middle East.