RIYADH: Three gifted Saudis have been awarded prestigious Rhodes Scholarships. Osama Aljohani, Omar Alomran and Osama Dabbousi will head to the University of Oxford in October next year to join more than a hundred fellow recipients from around the world and begin their fully funded postgraduate studies.
The Rhodes Scholarship is generally recognized the world’s oldest and preeminent graduate fellowship. It was established at Oxford in 1902 and the first scholars began their studies there the following year.
The inaugural award for Saudi Arabia was established in 2018 thanks to a gift from Mohammed Alagil, and additional scholarships were subsequently added through gifts from Abdulrahman Alagil Sons. The donors are co-founders of Jarir Bookstores and their donations were made in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Education.
Eighteen students from Saudi Arabia have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships to date. They have gone on to pursue a variety of careers in fields including genetics, medicine and the creative arts. This year’s winners continue a fantastic legacy of excellence, organizers said.
Aljohani is a senior chemical engineering student at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, specializing in hydrogen mobility. Born and raised in Yanbu Industrial City, he grew up overlooking local refineries and chemical plants, which sparked an interest in energy, chemicals and water.
His undergraduate research focuses on crude-to-chemicals conversion using fluid catalytic cracking, in particular the evaluation of catalyst performance and operating conditions. He completed an internship in Austin, Texas, as a data and chemometrics analyst at JP3 Measurement.
Aljohani describes himself as having a passion for building communities, and has held several public relations and leadership roles. He co-founded initiatives at the university, including the Gaming+ event to empower Saudi game developers, the CITE initiative to support local chemical engineering students, and Student Breakthrough Research, a program that trains undergraduates to conduct research and connects them with research centers.
He serves as the data analytics and insights lead on the Young Leaders Advisory Board at King Fahd University, where he contributes to university-level strategy. He also serves as vice president of the Chemical Engineering Club, where he manages an internal investment fund in support of student innovation.
Aljohani describes himself as passionate about solving water scarcity through energy innovation, and says his goal is to make renewable energy more reliable and dispatchable, especially through hydrogen storage and renewable integration, to enable sustainable desalination in arid regions.
At Oxford, he plans to pursue master’s degrees in energy systems, and in sustainability, enterprise and environment.
Alomran is a recent graduate of King Fahd University in software engineering, with a focus on artificial intelligence. He was awarded the Oxford/KAUST AI Program Scholarship, and an exchange-semester scholarship to study at Georgia Tech.
He is also an economist who has published research on public policy and international relations, focusing on Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, and has conducted several economic studies in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning.
He has worked at Thmanyah, a prominent Saudi media company, on economic and political coverage that reaches millions of people across the Arab world. He was the recipient of BCG’s Jeel Tamooh and Misk’s Ignited Voices fellowships, and won national olympiad medals in history, physics and Arabic.
At Oxford, Alomran plans to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree with the aim of advancing evidence-based economic and social reform in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, with a particular focus on reforms of the labor market and education through a neoclassical framework.
Dabbousi is a master’s student in computer science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, where he carries out research in the field of high-performance computing. His thesis focuses on GPU-accelerated, large-scale acoustic simulation.
He holds a degree in data science from Boston University, where he graduated at the top of his class as a KAUST Gifted Student Program scholar and received the CDS Academic Excellence Award. He holds a US patent from his research at Aramco Americas, and co-founded CSTIP, a student club at Boston University that teaches algorithms and interview preparation. He plans to pursue a doctorate in computer science at Oxford.
Rick Trainor, interim warden and CEO of the Rhodes Trust, said: “For more than a century, the Rhodes Trust has brought exceptional individuals to Oxford and fostered a vibrant global community.
“We are delighted to introduce the 2026 Class of Rhodes Scholars Elect who represent cultures and perspectives from every corner of the world. I look forward to seeing the positive contributions they will make in the world through their studies and the many and varied activities and initiatives with which they are involved.”
Prof. Christian Sahner, national secretary of the Rhodes Scholarships for Saudi Arabia, said: “Each year, we receive applications from some of the best and brightest students in Saudi Arabia, and this year was no exception.
“Our winners, Osama Aljohani, Osama Aljohani and Osama Dabbousi, embody the best of their country, with outstanding academic records and impressive extracurricular achievements. We look forward to welcoming them to Oxford next year and to seeing the positive impact they will have on the Kingdom and the world going forward.”
Education is one of the core elements of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification. The Rhodes Scholarships enable outstanding students from across the Kingdom to fully develop their skills and knowledge in the fields that will help the Kingdom achieve its goals, authorities said.
Students from anywhere in the world can apply for a Rhodes Scholarship and many find that taking part in the rigorous selection process is a positive experience, organizers say, that leaves them well placed to complete the scholarship or other opportunities worldwide.
The selection process aims to identify young people with proven records of academic excellence who also display exceptional character, leadership skills, the energy to use their talents to the full, and a commitment to solving humanity’s challenges. The process includes a rigorous review phase before finalists are invited to an interview with a selection committee composed of experts and leaders in their fields. The scholars form a lifelong community of people in many fields and careers, united by a commitment to making a positive impact on the world, organizers say.
Applications for the 2027 Rhodes Scholarship open in June 2026. Visit www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk for more information.
