Muhammad M. Al-Saggaf

Muhammad M. Al-Saggaf
6th President of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2020
Preceded by	Sahel N. Abduljauwad
Personal details
Nationality	Saudi Arabian
Education	King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (B.S.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S.) and (PhD) King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (MBA)
Awards	J. Clarence Karcher Award[1][2] from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Lester C. Uren Technical Excellence Award[3][4] from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Distinguished Member Award[5][6] from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Eisenhower Fellowship[7]
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics Geophysics Petroleum Engineering
Institutions	King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Saudi Aramco

Muhammad Al-Saggaf is the 6th President of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). He brought a wealth of industry experience to the role, having spent the bulk of his career in the industry before returning to academia. He started his career at KFUPM then spent 30 years at Saudi Aramco, culminating in his position as Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Services for six years, before re-joining the University in January, 2020.^[8] He is credited with moving KFUPM from a rank of #200 worldwide in 2020 into #101 in 2024,^[9] and opening admission for women, whose enrollment increased to 50%^[10] from nil.

Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Saggaf moved after high school to the Eastern Province to attend King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, from which he earned a B.S. degree in Mathematics. He later earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from KFUPM. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development.

He worked for 30 for Saudi Aramco, moving through the ranks from a junior geophysicist to the rank of senior vice president, second only to the company's president.^[11]

He has received international recognition in Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering, including the J. Clarence Karcher Award^[12] from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the Lester C. Uren Technical Excellence Award,^[13] and the Distinguished Member Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE),^[14] the Eisenhower Fellowship.^[15], and the LEWAS women empowerment award.^[16]

KFUPM was spun off by the government and became independent in 2020. This was the time at which Al-Saggaf was brought in as president to lead a broad transformation of the university.^[17] Some of the key changes at KFUPM include the following:

Improved the global ranking from #200 in 2020 to #101 globally,^[18] and to Top-100 globally in all Engineering disciplines: Petroleum #5, Minerals & Mining #8, Civil & Structural #37, Chemical #48, Mechanical & Astronautical #54, Data and AI #58, and Electrical #62. Moreover, it has been recognized by the National Academy of Inventors as #4 worldwide in US granted patents, ahead of well established universities such as Stanford and Harvard.^[19]

Introduced the AI+X^® platform (train students on Artificial Intelligence then build their major on it). All academic programs since 2020 are based on this platform, which includes courses in AI + Machine Learning, Data Science + Big Data, Business + Entrepreneurship, and Career Essentials for all students.

Launched over 90 new programs in future-facing disciplines, including: 41 industry-focused interdisciplinary master’s (MX) programs^[20] to help expand the global economic base, in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, renewable energy, smart cities, nuclear engineering, etc.; Eight undergraduate departments and programs, including Control & Instrumentation Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Bioengineering, Environmental Science & Engineering, Smart & Sustainable Cities, Integrated Design, Electrical Engineering and physics, and mining science & engineering; 42 undergraduate interdisciplinary concentrations (CX)^[21] in key sectors, such as renewables, hydrogen mobility, non-metallics, quantum computing, nuclear power, etc.

Increased the number of post-doctoral fellows (postdocs) several folds, and increased the number of graduate students from 12% to 30% of the student population, and their diversity to 67 countries from a very limited number of countries of origin previously. Also, changed the graduate program to allow direct admission to the PhD, in line with the practices of top international universities.

Opened all graduate and undergraduate programs to females for the first time at KFUPM, admitting female students in a completely meritorious process, and with the distinction of having highest intake of females in engineering anywhere in the world (50%).^[10] Also, attracted top-notch female faculty and professionals in various positions and colleges, up from a very small number that used to be limited to the clinic.^[22]