Nabilah al-Tunisi

Nabilah al-Tunisi (born c. 1959) (Arabic:نبيلة التونسي), was the first woman to hold the title of chief engineer at Saudi Aramco. In 2017 Al-Tunisi became the first female chairman of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

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. While in Spain, she attended a Spanish-American school and took Arabic lessons at night. At the age of 15, she returned and completed high school in Riyadh. But at the age of 17, she moved to Portland, Oregon to study electrical engineering at Lewis & Clark College, with encouragement from her parents and where her brother was also studying. Al-Tunisi's fascination with computers came as she was preparing for the requisite English test.

Al-Tunisi also completed the Stanford’s Executive Business Program in 2007, after being rejected two decades earlier for the Master's program there in Computer engineering. in Houston. Al-Tunisi had first searched and applied for various positions in the tech industry, including Microsoft, and PG&E. She even turned down a job with Apple Inc.

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.

Distinctions

In 2006, she was named on the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management. In 2018, she ranked 17th on the Forbes List of most influential women in the Middle East.