Khalid bin Mohammed Al Angari


Khalid bin Mohammed Al Angari is a Saudi politician who served as minister of higher education between 1991 and 8 December 2014. He was the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France between February 2016 and October 2019.

Early life and education

Angari was born in Jeddah in 1952. He holds a PhD in geography, which he received from the University of Florida in 1981, and an honorary doctorate degree from Umm al-Qura University, which was received in 2017.

Career

Angari was a faculty member at King Saud University. He worked there from 1981 to 1983. He was then named as the deputy minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, where he served from 1983 to 1984. He briefly served as mnister of Municipal and Rural Affairs from 1990 to 1991.

Minister of Education

He was appointed minister of Higher Education by King Fahd. During his tenure, he increased the number of governmental universities from 7 to 28, established more than 500 colleges, and led the implementation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship program. Angari's term ended on 8 December 2014, and Khalid bin Abdullah Al Sabti replaced him as minister of higher education. He opened a four-day, 450 person higher education fair, which was conceived to allow Saudi students opportunities to study abroad and to meet with international institutions.
In 2006, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Angari signed a Memorandum of Understanding with his Indian counterpart, Arjun Singh, which allowed Saudi students to study abroad in India.
In August 2013, Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Angari extended the King Abdullah Scholarship Program to 2020 in an effort to improve the outcome of the Saudi education system.

Ambassador to France

In February 2016 Khalid bin Mohammed Al Angari began to serve as the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France, with the goal of increasing bilateral ties with the country, focusing on promoting tourism in Saudi Arabia, developing ties for higher education and research exchange, and strengthening counter terrorism ties.
Khalid bin Mohammed Al Angari placed an emphasis on cultural and artistic exchanges by promoting events such as the MiSK Art exposition at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, participating in the Salon of Books in Paris, and organizing a Saudi art exposition at the Young International Artists art fair. In September 2016, he inaugurated the Saudi pavilion at the International Village of the Art of Cooking and Culture in Paris.
In November 2017, Angari conducted a visit to the Great Synagogue of Paris. This visit was the first of its kind, and Angari was received by France's chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia, and the synagogue's rabbi, Moshe Sebbag. His tenure ended in October 2019.

Personal life

Angari is the brother-in-law of Walid Al Ibrahim. His wife is Mohdi Al Ibrahim, who is the sister of King Fahd's spouse. He has eight children.