Nabilah al-Tunisi


Nabilah al-Tunisi , is the chief engineer for Saudi Aramco.

Early life and education

The daughter of a Saudi general, Al-Tunisi grew up in Riyadh. When she was 12, her family moved to Spain where her father became a military attaché at the Saudi Embassy in Madrid.
But at the age of 17, she travelled to Portland, Oregon to study electrical engineering at Lewis & Clark College. In 1982 she gained a Bachelor in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Portland and a masters in computer engineering from Oregon State University.
Al-Tunisi also completed the Stanford’s Executive Business Program.

Career

Her uncle, a friend of the Saudi oil minister, encouraged her to apply to Saudi Aramco, and she joined the company as a computer systems engineer in 1982. In 1984 she moved to the engineering and project management division. In 1996 she led the company´s planning department for IT facilities and electrical networks.
She served as General Manager of Northern Area Project Management in Saudi Aramco. For Saudi Aramco, she also directed one of the largest hydrocarbon and petrochemical complex. Al-Tunisi developed software to monitor oil assets and implemented automation systems for the transport of oil and gas.
She became the chief engineer of Aramco in 2015.
In 2017 Al-Tunisi became the first female chairman of the Saudi Stock Exchange.

Distinctions

In 2010 Oregon State University honored her with membership of their Academy of Distinguished Engineers.
In 2014 Forbes Middle East listed her at # 4 in their list of the 200 Most Powerful Arab Women in Executive Management.