NEOM Appoints Founding President of its Flagship University

Dr. Andreas Cangellaris, the Founding President of NEOM U. SPA
Dr. Andreas Cangellaris, the Founding President of NEOM U. SPA
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NEOM Appoints Founding President of its Flagship University

Dr. Andreas Cangellaris, the Founding President of NEOM U. SPA
Dr. Andreas Cangellaris, the Founding President of NEOM U. SPA

NEOM, the sustainable regional development in northwest Saudi Arabia, has appointed Dr. Andreas Cangellaris as the Founding President of NEOM U – NEOM’s first university.

Cangellaris is joining NEOM from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is the M. E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and has been serving as Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost since 2018.

NEOM aims to establish a world-class Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) hub that empowers future generations while using technology to engender new ways of learning from early years on, through primary, secondary, post-secondary education and beyond.

These goals support the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s educational sector.

Dr. Cangellaris has overseen the academic and research programs of a highly regarded US academic institution with over 50,000 students, 15 colleges and 150+ programs of study and in excess of USD 600 million in annual research expenditures.

A distinguished scholar in the fields of computational electromagnetics and electronic design automation, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece and his graduate degrees, a Master of Science and Ph.D., in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

“I am delighted that we have attracted a person of the caliber of Dr. Cangellaris to lead one of the critical pillars of our education sector,” said CEO of NEOM Nadhmi Al-Nasr.

“NEOM U is our first step toward developing a postsecondary education that is accessible to all, attracting the brightest students from all over Kingdom and the world. We want it to be a differentiator and a powerful signal of NEOM’s commitment to pioneering ideas in a world inspired by innovation.”

Cangellaris said he was honored to have been given this opportunity.

“To change the world for the better, you need everyone to become a change agent. And this is what NEOM U will do, by bringing together learners from the Kingdom and the world in NEOM’s living laboratory and immersing them in the learning of how the deliberate, responsible, innovative use of technology can improve our world and the human condition,” he said.



Wildfires Force Evacuation of Visitors and Staff at 2 National Parks in US West

This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
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Wildfires Force Evacuation of Visitors and Staff at 2 National Parks in US West

This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)

Visitors and staff at two national parks in the US West have been evacuated because of wildfires.

Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Denver, closed Thursday morning after lighting sparked blazes on both the North Rim and South Rim of the Black Canyon, the park said.

The wildfire has burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers), with no containment of the perimeter.

The conditions there have been ripe for wildfire with hot temperatures, low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation, the park said, adding that weather will remain a concern Friday.

The Grand Canyon's North Rim in Arizona also closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby.

The fire began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area, fire officials said. It has burned about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) with zero containment.