Prof. Nouria A. Al-Awadi obtained her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Sussex University.
She served as Head of Chemistry department during 1993-1995 and in 1995 she was appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Science. In 2006, a further career boost came her way, with her appointment as the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
All through her academic tenure, Prof. Nouria has consistently remained a dynamic researcher, nurturing broad-based interests in the areas ‘Kinetics and mechanism of gas-phase pyrolytic reactions’, and ‘Synthesis of organic compounds by environmentally friendly chemical reactions’.  She is credited with over 150 publications in peer reviewed journals.
She is also the recipient of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) prestigious award for scientific achievements in 1993, and Distinguished Researcher Award in Basic & Applied Sciences, awarded by the Research Sector, Kuwait University (KU), in 2004. In 2011, she was declared the Distinguished Woman in Chemistry by the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry at the IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, held in 2011.
In 2013, Prof. Nouria was honored with the highly acclaimed status of heading, the National Bureau for Academic Accreditation & Education Quality Assurance (NBAQ), as its First Director General.