Riyad Hassan El Khoudary ( English : Riyad Hassan El Khoudary ), born in Gaza City on July 27, 1943, is a well-known Palestinian academic. He currently holds the presidency of the Department of Education and Higher Education in the Palestine Liberation Organization, being a member of its Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Palestinian National Council and the Palestinian Central Council . He also holds the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al-Quds Open University , as well as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Al-Azhar Institutes for Palestine. He is considered the founder of Al-Azhar University in GazaHe was its president during the period 1991-2005. He also led the founding group of the University of Gaza (formerly Gaza University for Girls) in the year 2006, and headed this university during the period from 2007-2010 and headed it again during the period from 2013-2016. Being a specialist in geology, Professor Dr. Riyad Hassan Al-Khudari made an effective contribution . In the multilateral peace talks in the Middle East and headed the Palestinian delegation to the Water Resources Working Group since 1992.

His childhood and education

Riyad Hassan Al-Khudari was born in Gaza City, Palestine , on July 27, 1943. He completed his primary, preparatory, and secondary education in Gaza by obtaining a high school diploma in June 1960. In September 1960, he moved to the Egyptian city of Cairo, where he joined Cairo University, studied geology at the Faculty of Science , and obtained a degree . Bachelor’s Degree - Special Degree in Geology in June 1964. Because he excelled in his university studies in Egypt, in the spring of 1965 he obtained a full scholarship from the German Cultural Exchange Service (German Cultural Exchange Service ) for postgraduate studies in his field of specialization and left his homeland for Germany .In the summer of 1965, he studied German for 6 months and then began his graduate studies there. In December 1968, he obtained a diploma in geology equivalent to a master’s degree. Then he obtained a doctorate degree in August 1972 in the same specialty from the German University of Stuttgart. The title of the doctoral research he conducted on the geology of the Spanish Earth was: “Investigations in the Upper Jurassic of the Iberian Cordillera with... Special regard to the Micro fauna, Province of Teruel and Rincon de Ademuz"

His academic and professional history

Al-Fateh University in Tripoli - Libya

After obtaining a doctorate in geology from the German University of Stuttgart in August 1972, Dr. Al-Khudari then moved immediately to Libya to work as a lecturer at the Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering at Al-Fateh University in the city of Tripoli, and continued to work at the same university until the summer of 1983.
During the aforementioned period, he participated very effectively in establishing and developing the Department of Geological and Geophysical Engineering at the aforementioned college, and he was appointed head of the Department of Geological Engineering at that college in 1979 until he left that university in the summer of 1983. In addition to his administrative and teaching work, Dr. Al-Khudari was able to devote some of his time to scientific research. He published several research papers and wrote several books in his field of specialization (see list of scientific publications). During his stay in Tripoli - Libya, and based on his academic, research, construction and development achievements, he was promoted from the rank of Lecturer to the rank of Assistant Professor in April 1976 and then to the rank of Associate Professor in August 1979.

Islamic University of Gaza

In the summer of 1983, Dr. Al-Khudari left Libya and returned to his homeland to work at the Islamic University of Gaza in the Department of Geology in the College of Science. During his work at the Islamic University of Gaza during the period from 1983 to 1991, he was active in fulfilling all the duties assigned to him academically and administratively.
In addition to his teaching activities at the Islamic University of Gaza, he held the following positions:
- Vice President of the University for Administrative Affairs from January 1984 until December 1985 and then from October 1987 until October 1989.
- Vice President of the University for Scientific Research from December 1989 until November 1990.
- Dean College of Science from December 1985 until October 1987.
He was also able to publish some scientific research (see the list of published research) and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1986.

Al-Azhar University in Gaza

In the year 1991, the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Tunisia issued a decision to establish a national university in the Gaza Strip under the name of Al-Azhar University and assigned Professor Dr. Riad Al-Khudari to head the team in charge of establishing and equipping it, as he was its first president from 1991 to 2005. During the aforementioned period, Professor
Dr. Al-Khudari and his colleagues established and equipped a modern university whose number of students reached 14,000 male and female students distributed among nine colleges in addition to other centers and units. In 1995, Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari established the Water Research Center at the same university and headed it until 2005.

Al-Quds Open University

The year 1992 witnessed the birth of Al-Quds Open University on the land of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari was charged with establishing and equipping the branch of the aforementioned university in Gaza in his capacity as Vice President of Al-Quds Open University for Gaza Strip Affairs until December 1999. From that time until March
2006 He was appointed a member of the University's Advisory Council, and after that, to date, he has held the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al-Quds Open University in Palestine.

University of Gaza

In the year 2006, a group of Palestinian figures, led by Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari, decided to establish a private university in Gaza City under the name Gaza University for Girls. This university was launched academically on September 26, 2009, when it received the first batch of female students studying in the various colleges and specializations that characterize the university. . In order to provide the opportunity for young people of both genders to study there, its name was changed to the University of Gaza in the year 2010. Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari headed this university during the period 2007-2010 and headed the university again during the period 2013-2016.

Al-Azhar Institutes in Palestine

In 2014, Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari was appointed to chair the Board of Trustees of the Al-Azhar Institutes in Palestine.

His contribution to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization

With the beginning of the peace talks on the Middle East, and since he was a specialist in geology, the Palestine Liberation Organization appointed Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari as a member of the Palestinian team for the multilateral peace talks on the Middle East, and he headed the Palestinian delegation to the Water Resources Working Group since 1992. During the work of the delegation, he was able to contribute effectively With the Palestinian Water Delegation in completing studies on water in the region (see list of published research)..
During the meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) held in Gaza in 1996, Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari was elected to be a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and thus he became a member of the Palestinian Central Council headed by President Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO at that time. In February 2005, President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decision assigning the Department of Education and Higher Education in the Palestine Liberation Organization to Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari, which specializes in issues of education and higher education for the Palestinians of the diaspora.

Achievements

• Founder of the Department of Geological Engineering at Al-Fateh University in Tripoli - Libya (1976).
• Founder of Al-Azhar University in Gaza (1991).
• Founder of Al-Quds Open University branch in Gaza (1991).
• Founder of the Water Research Center at Al-Azhar University in Gaza (1995).
• Leader of the founding group of Gaza University for Girls (2006) (later Gaza University).

Memberships in unions and committees

• Head of the Palestinian delegation for water resources in the 1992 multilateral Middle East peace talks.
• Head of the Water Research Center at Al-Azhar University in Gaza (1995-2005).
• Member of the Union of Arab Geologists.
• Member of the Palestinian Higher Education Council (1992-2005).
• Member of the Palestine National Council and the Palestinian Central Council .
• Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization since April 1996.
• Member of the Water Academy (Membership No. 43) in Oslo - Norway.

Scientific research and literature

Professor Dr. Riyad Al-Khudari has published 17 original research in his field of specialization in international scholarly journals and has authored 3 books on geology in Arabic for geology students.