Last week, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh was appointed the education minister of the Kingdom. Prior to his appointment as the minister, he served as the adviser to the royal court. Dr. Al-Asheikh has held top positions in various universities and research centers across Saudi Arabia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in administrative sciences from King Saudi University. Later, he did his master’s in economics at the University of San Francisco in the US.  Dr. Al-Asheikh received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in the US. He worked as a teaching assistant at the Department of Economics at the University of San Francisco between 1982 and 1983. He also served as an assistant professor at King Saud University’s Department of Economics. Later, he was promoted to the position of associate professor. In 2006, he was appointed the head of the economics department at the College of Business Administration at King Saud University.  During his long association with King Saud University, Dr. Al-Asheikh served in top positions at various research centers and departments of the Riyadh-based university. Due to his excellent qualifications, managerial and teaching experience, the education minister has been part of various key government committees dealing with different sectors such as economic affairs and development, and labor market policies etc. The Saudi education minister has authored many books on economics, development and sports economy. He has also supervised more than 300 research papers and studies during his tenure as dean at King Abdullah Institute for Research and Studies. Dr. Al-Asheikh also regularly features in radio and TV shows to express his opinion on important economic issues. He also writes columns for local newspapers. He also took part in the project for the National Policy for Science and Technology in the Kingdom. He sits on the board of the National Center for Performance Measurement, which is a key component of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan.