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YTU Rectors

Hazım Bey (1911-1913)

Hazım Bey, the algebra and arithmetic teacher of the Conductor School, is the first principal of the Conductor School. Hazım Bey, whose duty coincided with the years of the Tripoli War and the Balkan Wars that followed, ensured the continuation of the teaching.

İbrahim Selahattin Bey (1913-1923, 1923-1931)

İbrahim Selahattin Bey (1867-1932), who graduated from the Topography Department of the High Engineering School, started to work as an assistant to Refik Bey (Refik Fenmen) at the same school in 1911. Appointed as the principal of the Conductor School in 1913, İbrahim Selahattin Bey, after the difficult war years, also undertook the execution of the courses without a teacher during the occupation period (1919-1922), ensuring that the school continued its education before it was closed. In 1923, when the Conductor School was moved to the building used by the Graduate School of Engineering in Gümüşsuyu, the name of the institution was changed to Nafia Science School. İbrahim Selahattin Bey worked as the director of Nafia Science School in 1931.

Cevdet Erdemi Bey (1931-1935)

Cevdet Bey (1872-1956), who graduated from the High School of Engineers, was a member of the Ottoman Society of Engineers and Architects. During his term at the Nafia Science School, he planned to make curriculum changes in response to the need to train more well-equipped science officers, and he extended the two-and-a-half-year program to 3 years by extending it by 6 months. He continued as the director of Nafia Science School until he was appointed to Diyarbakir to work as an engineer on February 5, 1935.

İsmail Atıf Tansuğ (1935-1937, 1937-1960)

İsmail Atıf Tansuğ, who entered the Graduate School of Engineering in 1923, graduated in 1927. He spent 25 years of his teaching and managerial life, which he started at Nafia Science School, as the director of the Technical School. Tansuğ, who started to work in the spring of 1935 when Nafia Science School had to move, took an active role in the establishment of the Technical School. Two important places of memory of Yıldız Campus; Architecture and Machinery Faculty buildings were built during the Tansuğ period. The school was separated from the Ministry of Public Works and connected to the Ministry of National Education, and the Electricity, Architecture and Map-Cadastre Branches were opened during the Tansuğ period. Atıf Tansuğ, who wrote the first known history of the institution in the 1942-43 Yearbook, is the person who has served the longest in the directorate position among the Star institutions with his 25-year term of office.

Prof. Vakkas Aykurt (1960-1963, 1970-1973)

Aykurt, who completed his education at the Munich Graduate School of Engineering, was appointed to the Technical School as a teacher in November 1940, and became the Construction Branch Chief in 1951. Aykurt, who came to the directorate in 1960, continued to be the director in the tense period after 27 May 1960. Aykurt, who took office for the second time with the encouragement of the school administration, when the Technical School was transformed into the Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture, when there were 3 successive changes in a year, and served as the President of IDMMA for 3 years until 1973.

Prof. Adnan Ergeneli (1963-1969, 1969-1970)

Having graduated from Grenoble University in France in 1933 as an Electrical Engineer, Ergeneli started to work at the Technical School in 1950. He became the Chief of the Electricity Branch in 1953 and was elected to the Technical School directorate in 1963. After the Technical School gained the Academy status in 1969, Ergeneli became the first president of the newly renamed Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture. Ergeneli retired in 1981 and continued to take classes at Yıldız University until 1989.

Prof. Emin Necip Uzman (29.01.1970-09.04.1970)

In 1936, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Architecture. In 1951, Uzman started working at the Technical School and the following year he became the Chief of the Architecture Branch. Following the resignation of Adnan Ergeneli, Necip Uzman was appointed as the President of Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture (IDMMA), a position he held for only 3 months. Although he retired in 1973, he continued to teach at Yıldız University until 1986.

Prof. Selçuk Somer (09.04.1970-01.09.1970)

Graduating in 1942 from the Mechanical Department of the Higher School of Engineering, Somer started working at the Technical School in 1958 and joined the Engine and Motor Vehicles Chair. In 1970, he became the President of Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture (IDMMA), but resigned five months later. Somer continued to teach at the same chair until 1978.

Prof. Süreyya Yarasa (01.09.1970-16.12.1970)

In 1935, he graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'espace in France as an aircraft engineer. Between 1937 and 1939, he worked at the Kayseri Aircraft Factory as the chief of the Work Preparation Office. After the factory was closed down, Yarasa returned to Istanbul and started teaching at the Technical School in 1951. Süreyya Yarasa, who worked with Selçuk Somer in the Engine and Motor Vehicles Chair, served as the President of Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture (IDMMA) for the last three months of 1970 and resigned shortly afterwards.

Prof. Muzaffer Sağışman (1973-1977)

In 1943, he graduated as a mechanical engineer from the Technical School named Die Technische Hochshule in Dresden during the state of war. In 1945, he returned to Turkey and worked as a doctor engineer on the Ankara-Sivas Sivas railway project of the State Railways. Throughout his academic life, which he started as an assistant at the Technical School, he served as the director of the Vatan Engineering School in 1948, which was affiliated to Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture (IDMMA) for a certain period of time.  On the other hand, he also took part in the Chair of Manufacturing Methods and Machinery at Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture. Sağışman served as the President of Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture for four years between 1973-1977.

Prof. Süha Toner (1977-1982, 1982-1992)

In 1949, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Architecture as a postgraduate architect. After working as a freelance architect for about ten years, Toner became an assistant at the Technical School in 1959. Following the establishment of the Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture (IDMMA), he became an associate professor in 1969, a professor in 1971 and was elected as the President of the Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture in 1977. After the military coup of September 12, 1980, he was appointed as the rector of Yıldız University when all academies were transformed into universities with the law enacted in 1982. Süha Toner remained in his position until he retired in 1992, and was particularly influential in enhancing cultural and artistic activities.

Prof. Dr. Turgut Uzel (1992-1996)

Uzel graduated from the Technical School's Map-Cadastre Department in 1964 and completed his master's degree in 1964. After working in various civil service positions until 1972, he attended a second undergraduate program in 1972 and graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of IDMMA (Istanbul State Academy of Architecture and Engineering) in 1976. He became an associate professor in 1979 and a professor in 1988. Uzel, who worked as an assistant to Süha Toner during his presidency between 1978 and 81, served as the director of the Institute of Science between 1984-1988 and the dean of the Faculty of Engineering between 1988-1992. Then Uzel became the first rector of Yıldız Technical University, which was established by a law in 1992. Uzel retired in 2000, having spent his entire academic life at Yıldız affiliated institutions.

Prof. Dr. Ayhan Alkış (1996-2004)

He graduated from Map and Cadastre Engineering Department of Technical School in 1969. He started to work as an assistant at IDMMA in 1970. After completing his doctorate at the Technical University of Braunschweig, he became an associate professor in 1978 and a professor in 1989. Alkış, who was elected as the rector of Yıldız Technical University in 1996, fulfilled this duty for two terms. In addition to making Davutpaşa Barracks a part of the institution, Prof. Dr. Alkış established the Faculty of Art and Design and the Faculty of Education during his term as a rector.

Prof. Dr. Durul Ören (2004-2008)

Ören graduated from the Physics Department of Istanbul University and joined the Physics chair at IDMMA as an assistant in 1971. He defended his Proficiency Thesis in 1975 and became an associate professor in 1979. He became the Head of the Physics Department in 1994 and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1998. Ören, who was elected as a dean for the second time in 2001, became the rector of Yıldız Technical University in 2004 and retired in 2010.

Prof. Dr. İsmail Yüksek (2008-2016)

After completing his undergraduate education at Yıldız Technical University in 1985, he received his master's and doctorate degrees from the same institution. After starting to work as a research assistant in 1986, he became a lecturer in 1995, an assistant professor in 1996, and an associate professor in 1999. Yüksek, who served as the vice dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering between 2003 and 2005, served as the Head of the Mechatronics Engineering Department in 2007. He served as the rector of Yıldız Technical University between August 2008 and 2016. He was appointed as the rector of Antalya Bilim University on December 22, 2016.

Prof. Dr. Bahri Şahin (2016-2020)

He graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of Gazi University in 1978. After completing his master's degree in 1979 at Mechanical Engineering Department of YTU Science and Technology Institute, he completed his doctorate in Nuclear Technology Program at ITU Nuclear Energy Institute in 1985. He became a research assistant at YTU in 1979, a lecturer in 1983, an assistant professor in 1986, and an associate professor in 1989. Having served as the vice-chairman of a department between 1988-1999, the head of the department between 1992-2007, and a department head between 1999-2009, Şahin became the Founding Dean of the Faculty of Naval Engineering at YTU in 2009 and was appointed as the rector of YTU in 2016.

Prof. Dr. Tamer Yılmaz (2020-present)

After graduating from the Naval Engineering Department of Yıldız Technical University in 1992, Yılmaz completed his master's degree in Belgium Von Karman Institute and his doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 1998. Between 2008 and 2013, he served as the vice rector, director of Science Institute, Scientific Research Projects Coordinator, a member of the Teknopark Board of Directors, and the founding director of both the Technology Transfer Office and the USA/Silicon Valley Star Camp Incubation Center. Yılmaz, who served as the President of Türk Loydu between 2011 and 2013, held the position of presidency at the Chamber of Sea Trade Experts and Surveyors Professional Committee. Yılmaz, who served as the rector of Hasan Kalyoncu University between 2013 and 2018, took office as the 8th rector of Yıldız Technical University in August 2020, and as the 23rd administrator among all Yıldız affiliated institutions.