FaceOf: Dr. Malak Al-Nory, dean of graduate studies at Effat University

After earning both her BA and MS in Public Administration from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Al-Nory served as a graduate lecturer at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, teaching graduate-level students the fundamentals of database management systems.

In 2009, Al-Nory earned her Ph.D. in Information Technology from George Mason University, after which she chaired the Department of Information Systems as well as serve as an assistant professor at Effat University.

A technologist, academician and strategic planner, Al-Nory was the first fellow in MIT’s “Ibn Khaldun fellowship for Saudi Women” program in 2012-13, as well as the first Saudi woman to present a paper at the International Desalination Association (IDA) Congress.

The IDA is the leading professional society in desalination. While at MIT, Al-Nory conducted research on the supply chain for water in the Kingdom, presenting the results of this research in her paper “Water Desalination Supply Chain Modelling and Optimization: The Case of Saudi Arabia.” Her presentation was highly praised at the 2013 IDA World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse in Tianjin, China.

For her work on water resource supply chain identification and optimal desalination strategy, Al-Nory was appointed as International C3 ambassador by the Saudi Ministry of Energy, a platform she has used to inspire Saudi women to enter the energy field.

Her accomplishments in the fields of water desalination and strategic resource management have been praised at international conferences and published in highly regarded scientific journals.

Along with her role as dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Effat University, Al-Nory is a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, engineering systems division, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dr. Malak Al-Nory, dean of graduate studies at Effat University