"King Abdullah as Reformer: An Overview of U.S.Saudi Relations"

Indiana University’s leadership, students, faculty and staff met with His Royal Highness Prince Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia as the prince visited IU Bloomington.

HRH Prince Mansour is the grandson of His Majesty King Abdulaziz Al Saud, who founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. He served as an advisor to his uncle, His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. A successful entrepreneur, he has founded a number of companies and has been recognized internationally for his business leadership.

HRH Prince delivered remarks to an audience at the Grand Foyer of the IU Auditorium. In his remarks, the prince emphasized several times the importance of education to the future of his country, noting particularly the King Abdullah scholarship program, started just over a decade ago. It is a prime reason nearly 60,000 Saudi students studied at U.S. universities in the 2014-15 academic year alone.

Saudi students comprise the fourth largest international student body at IU, with nearly 600 on IU’s campuses. About 400 study at IUPUI, about 125 attend IU Bloomington and another 50 are at IU's six other regional campuses. IU has more than 800 alumni affiliated with Saudi Arabia.

The prince spoke of a new vision, where the country can generate more income from sectors such as agriculture and high tech. “With your knowledge -- and I am talking to the Saudi students -- we will be able to diversify,” he said.