Adel Batterjee

Adel bin Abdul-Jalil Batterjee is a noted Saudi Arabian businessman and philanthropist, main of his interest is education, focusing on elites and giftedness children. A chairman of Waad Holding Company and Doroob Albarakah.

Personal narrative of adel a. batterjee

Adel A. Batterjee: Family Background

Adel Abdul Jaleel Batterjee was born on March 11, 1946, to a prominent merchant family in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. After completing his primary and secondary education in 1963, Adel A. Batterjee pursued mathematics at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas U. S. A., graduating in 1967 with a bachelor's degree. After working for over two years as a graduate assistant at King Fahd University for Petroleum & Minerals, he joined The Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) as a computer systems analyst where he spent approximately four years. He then started his own business in computer analysis and programming in Riyadh. Twelve years later, he moved to his hometown, Jeddah and diversified his business interests, expanding into the hotel business. These efforts were economically successful.

Dr. Batterjee shared his family's interest in education, and started a school for girls in the early 1980s. Approximately, in 2000 he started a school for boys, Dar al Thikr, which he ran after selling his computer business. The school is now quite large, serving 2500 students in two separate sections, one for boys and the other for girls. Since his listing, Dr. Batterjee pursued and in 2009 obtained a Ph.D. in educational psychology. He now works as a consultant and trainer in education. He is married and has four daughters.

Adel A. Batterjee: View on Islam

Dr. Batterjee inclines toward "moderate" Islam, and believes that social responsibility, by which one's beliefs are reflected in one's actions, is the most important component of the religion. This view is translated into a vision based on four pillars: education as a mean for improving socio-economic output, private wealth as a mean for bringing socio-economic balance in societies, philanthropy as a concept of Islamic social responsibility, and Jihad as a defense mechanism for religion and self-preservation.

Education as a Mean for Improving Socio-Economic Output

Dr. Adel Batterjee started his professional life as a graduate assistance at King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran Saudi Arabia. After almost three years in that position, he moved to Aramco, the national oil company as a systems analyst where he remained for four years. Having gained enough technical experience in systems analysis and programming, Dr. Batterjee moved to Riyadh where he established his private business in computer systems, serving both government and private entities. Although his business flourished and his company, Cap Saudi Arabia became one of the leading companies in the field in the country, his passion for education remained close to his heart. This passion prompted Dr. Batterjee to establish two private schools in Jeddah, his hometown, one for boys and the other for girls. Both school target middle to upper class sectors of the society and provide programs to nourish giftedness. Having realized the need for targeting the gifted and talented students, Dr. Batterjee pursued and received a PhD in Education Psychology. In his thesis, Dr. Batterjee developed a model to discover and nourish giftedness. Pursuant to his PhD, he worked on and published numerous papers on intelligence, education, and giftedness. Samples of his research is published on his web site: [1] and on [2] Influenced by the philosophies of both Plato and Al Ghazali, Dr. Batterjee believes that education is the key factor to the development of societies. Better education generally improves the socio-economic output of societies (for further reading on this, refer to Dr. Batterjee’s paper on IQ and Education: Intelligence and Education: The Saudi Case). This can be recognized in various forms such as success in life, social complexity, technological innovation, attitudes and values, the nature of political system employed, the extend of the rule of law, health and environmental awareness and economic development. Furthermore, Dr. Batterjee believes that members of the intellectual elite of societies (99th percentile of IQ distribution) are major contributor to societies intellectual output, high earnings, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and job proficiency (for further reading on this, refer to Dr. Batterjee’s paper on ^[3]).

Recognition of Dr. Batterjee as a major Contributor to Intelligence and Giftedness Research

Dr. Batterjee is recognized as a major contributor to intelligence and giftedness research in the Middle East in general and Saudi Arabia in particular. His research is published in recognized international and regional scientific journals such as,^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} and others. Dr. Batterjee is also a member of the Advisory Board of Mankind Quarterly along with worldwide-recognized scientists such as Professor Richard Lynn, and Professor Gerhard Meisenberg. Several world recognized researchers have commended Dr. Batterjee for his outstanding work in intelligence and giftedness research. Among these is Professor ^[11] who wrote on nominating Dr. Batterjee to ^[12] “As far as I can see you are now one of the most senior researchers in gifted education and intelligence research in the Middle East”. On another occasion, Professor [13] commented on one of Dr. Batterjee’s papers by saying “very interesting … I really have full respect for you as a person and for your efforts in this field”.

Dar Al Thikr Schools and Waad Academy

From theory to practice, Dr. Batterjee put his knowledge and experience gained from research in intelligence and giftedness to practice by establishing schools geared towards serving middle to upper class segments of the Saudi society. Dar Al Thikr Schools were established in 2000 and now provide quality education for over 3000 students.^[14] Waad Academy is ^[15] scheduled to start with a population of 1000 students in September 2015, and is designed to cater for up to 6000 boys and girls from KG to grade 12.

Mentoring the Elite

Dr. Batterjee based his mentoring of the elite program on concept introduced in his PhD thesis. The aim of this program is to facilitate methodological differentiation for selected highly intelligent and creative youth, each according to his individual abilities and needs, through strategic planning of his future. The program also aims at developing twenty first century skills, improving socio-economic status, and providing quality education for the selected youths to empower them to inflict positive change in their societies. Youth are normally screened at an early age using recognized tools such as intelligence and personality tests, and could be in the program until they are productive members of their societies and beyond. In cases where selected individuals face socio-economic challenges, a scholarship program provides financial and other needed support. Overall, mentoring the elite program provides scholastic, psychological, and socio-economical support to youth who could be leaders of positive change.

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