Riyadh University

King Saud University

جامعة الملك سعود
Former names	Riyadh University
Motto	اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ "Read! In the name of your Lord Who created" [Qur'an, C:96. V:1]
Type	Public
Established	1957
Endowment	US $2.7 billion
President	Badran A. O. Al Omar
Administrative staff	4,952
Students	55,000 (as of 26 Mar 2015)
Location	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 24°43′19″N 46°37′37″E / 24.722°N 46.627°E / 24.722; 46.627Coordinates: 24°43′19″N 46°37′37″E / 24.722°N 46.627°E / 24.722; 46.627
Campus	Urban, enclosed 2,224 acres (900 ha) (9 km²)
Language	English, Arabic
Newspaper	رسالة الجامعة
Website	www.ksu.edu.sa

King Saud University (KSU, Arabic: جامعة الملك سعود‎‎) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz as Riyadh University, as the first university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The university was created to meet the shortage of skilled workers in Saudi Arabia. It was renamed King Saud University in 1982.

The student body of KSU today consists of about 65,000 students of both sexes. The female students have their own disciplinary panel, and there is a center supervising the progress of female students, either personally by female faculty members or by male faculty members via a closed television network. The university offers courses in the natural sciences, the humanities, and professional studies, for which it charges no tuition. The medium of instruction in undergraduate programs is English and Arabic depending on the chosen major. Among Arab universities, its medical programs are highly regarded.

Establishing Saudi Arabia's first university was a response to the educational and professional needs of a young nation. King Abdulaziz became king in 1932, and began laying the foundations for modernizing his country and establishing an educational system. In 1953 King Saud, the eldest son of Abdulaziz, acceded to the throne upon his father's death, and instituted the Council of Ministers and the Ministry Education.

Prince Fahd, who eventually became the Saudi King, was the first minister of education. Following the first session of the Council of Ministers, he announced that the first Saudi University would be established as a house of culture and sciences. Prince Fahd said that he was committed to promoting higher education.

In 1957, according to the dictates of the Royal Decree No. 17, Prince Fahd announced the founding of King Saud University, established in order to, "Disseminate and promote knowledge in Our Kingdom for widening the base of scientific and literary study, and for keeping abreast with other nations in the arts and sciences and for contributing with them discovery and invention", in addition to reviving Islamic civilization and articulate its benefits and glories, along with its ambitions to nurture the young virtuously and to guarantee their healthy minds and ethics."