 Professor al-Ansary was a faculty member of King Saud University (formerly Riyadh University) from 1966 to 1999 where he held several positions and roles including dean of the College of Arts (1971–1972 and 1988–1994), chairman of the Department of History (1974–1978) and chairman of the Department of Archeology and Museology (1978–1986).Between 1996 and 2001, he served as a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, which were its first two terms.Professor al-Ansary is considered the pioneering academic who established the study of archeology in Saudi Arabia by taking the leading role in creating an archeology concentration in the Department of History at King Saud University and later the Department of Archeology and Museology in 1978, the first in the country.