Dr. Samuel Willner is a graduate of the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. His doctoral dissertation "Tribal Solidarity, Pragmatism and Family Survival: Al Sa'ud and the Enigma of Its Decision-Making during 1973-1980" was approved in December 2020. Dr. Willner's doctoral project was supervised by Dr. Soli Shahvar, Dr. Eran Segal and Prof. Gabriel Ben-Dor. In addition to his doctoral decree, Dr. Willner holds an M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration. Dr. Willner is a Research Fellow at the Ezri Center for Iran and Gulf States Research. His research interests include Saudi decision-making and foreign policy, Middle Eastern economic history and energy security.