JEDDAH, 4 May 2007 — Wael Al-Ghamdi, an 11th-grade student from Jeddah’s Dar Al-Fikr School, will represent Saudi Arabia in the 48th International Mathematical Olympics 2007 (IMO).

The 17-year-old Saudi achieved first place in the annual mathematics competition sponsored by the Ministry of Education. He competed with 428 young men and women 12th graders.

“He was the only student from the 11th grade, and in spite of that he took first place,” said Anwar Balto, an official at the Jeddah Gifted Center.

Education Minister Abdullah Al-Obaid and Saleh Al-Athel, chief of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, honored Al-Ghamdi in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Now Al-Ghamdi will compete in the IMO, which will take place July 19-31 in Vietnam. Winners will receive scholarships to prestigious universities. He will also spend six weeks this summer interning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“We will try to offer him a scholarship to study there after he graduates from high school,” Balto said.

“I adore mathematics. It is my favorite subject,” Al-Ghamdi said. “My parents prepared me to distinguish myself in math. They used my older sisters’ textbooks even before I was old enough to go to school.” Even though he is still in high school, Al-Ghamdi has had some of his math theories, 15 to be exact, reviewed by college professors at King Abdulaziz University (KAU).

“We transferred a report of Al-Ghamdi’s theories to KAU mathematics professors,” said Balto. “They said that the student’s intellectual age exceeded 17 years of age.”

He said this isn’t the first time that he has participated in such competitions.

“Last time I competed was in the scientific innovations prize that was organized by the Ministry of Education. I was placed first,” he said.

Al-Ghamdi joined Dar Al-Fikr when he was in the ninth grade after he got a scholarship to study there.

“The student joined Dar Al-Fikr as a gifted student,” said Abdulqadir Bakri, director of Dar Al-Fikr Boys Schools. “He was distinguished in mathematics and loved it more than any subject. He has achieved a high GPA every year.”

Al-Ghamdi says his future is in numbers, but has no interest in being a teacher.

The Jeddah Gifted Center was established seven years ago. Each year the center tests about 2,000 candidates and accepts only about 70. Al-Ghamdi enrolled in the first class when he was in the fifth grade. The center requires a 120 IQ score for entry. Al-Ghamdi scored 160.