Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University

The education of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has received a great deal of attention and this has allowed Saudi women to make definite strides towards achieving their ambitions and unveiling their uniqueness in different fields. The Saudi woman has emerged, not only at the local level, but at the international level as well. We see examples of Saudi women in the fields of culture and specialized research, examples who are respected and acknowledged in international arenas and in the various fields of science, proving their success and their worthiness that rivals that of their peers in other advanced countries. PNU is one of the outcomes of the attention given to the higher education of women. This attention started early, when the General Presidency for the Education of Girls established the first college for women in 1390 AH, corresponding to 1970 CE. The inauguration of more colleges followed, reaching 102, ranging from university colleges to intermediary colleges and community colleges. These were distributed over 72 Saudi cities and included 600,000 students. In Riyadh alone there are six colleges; namely the College of Education for Liberal Arts Disciplines, the College of Education for Scientific Disciplines, the College of Education for the Development of Teachers, the College of Social Services, the College of Home Economics and the College of Fine Arts. In 1427 AH, a royal order was issued for the establishment of the first university for women in Riyadh, under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education. This included the six colleges located in Riyadh, in addition to a number of new colleges established for the purpose of women's education and development in the Kingdom. The university was inaugurated in 1428 AH with the appointment of its first rector, H.H. Dr. Al-Jawhara bint Fahd Al-Saud.