Zain Anbar

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — A woman will go down in history as the first Saudi female to be awarded a doctorate by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).



Mai Majed Al-Qurashi, who specialized in biochemistry, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that her next ambition is to be a Nobel laureate.



“I can’t describe how proud I feel being the first Saudi female student ever to attain such an achievement from this great university,” Al-Qurashi said.



Her dissertation dealt with how certain substances that exist in all living beings can stimulate or suppress proteins and how they can control some diseases. She said she spent countless sleepless nights working on her thesis.



Looking at Al-Qurashi’s family background, it is obvious why this student, who presented two pieces of research in global conferences and even co-authored a chemistry book, became so serious and passionate about scientific research.



Her mother is a college dean who has always pushed to her to excel while her father is a news editor at Jeddah Radio who encouraged her at an early age to conduct research.



Her brothers and sisters were also raised to love reading books.



Their grandfather played an important role in nourishing this love.



He used to have a huge library and gave his grandchildren, including Mai, SR3,000 every month to buy books.



She said: “I will always be indebted to my family members for this accomplishment.”