Rutgers Signs Partnership Agreement With Saudi Arabian University

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy is currently out of the country from April 24 - May 3 because he is conducting economic mission trips to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. (Before that, Murphy and his wife were in Poland last Thursday where they participated in a march from Auschwitz to Birkenau Nazi death camps, for Holocaust Remembrance Day.)

Murphy was in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to sign a letter of intent between Rutgers University and King Saud University to establish academic collaboration between the two schools.

The agreement means Rutgers — specifically the Rutgers Business School and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy — will share research with King Saud University, and vice versa, in the following fields: Public policy, management, business administration, urban planning and city development.

To read the letter of intent, click here. The agreement does not extend to Rutgers admissions.

The partnership is meant to attract businesses to open in New Jersey and increase investment in New Jersey's urban areas and downtowns, said the governor's office.

“The future of New Jersey’s economic success is strengthened by our commitment to securing new international relationships,” said Murphy, whose second term as New Jersey's governor will end in January. “This collaboration will enhance bilateral academic exchange and open opportunities to support New Jersey’s educational resources and economic growth.”

This is not Rutgers' first "sister university" agreement: Tel Aviv University in Israel signed a similar letter of intent in 2021 to open a satellite campus at Rutgers, and also promise collaboration and information sharing between the two schools. The Tel Aviv University offices have not yet opened at Rutgers; they are supposed to be located inside the NJ Innovation & Tech Hub, currently under construction in downtown New Brunswick.

Murphy signed the agreement Sunday in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. King Saud University is located in Riyadh and is home to more than 70,000 students.

A dean at King Saud University said Rutgers MBA and public policy programs will educate future Saudi government leaders, and teach them how to efficiently run municipal government offices there.

"The Letter of Intent paves the way for King Saud University and Rutgers University to explore future opportunities for collaboration in executive master’s and professional training programs aimed at building the capacity of municipal officials across Saudi Arabia," said Abdullah Althabt, a dean at King Saud University.

In his economic trip to the Arab Gulf countries, Murphy was joined by his wife, New Jersey Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan and Choose New Jersey, NJ's leading non-profit business attraction organization.

President Trump will head to Saudi Arabia in May.

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