The winners of the Hakan Orbay Research Awards, given by the Sabancı University School of Management in honor of faculty member Hakan Orbay who passed away in 2011, received their prizes at a meeting held on Thursday, December 10, 2015.
Designed to support young researchers of finance and microeconomics in creating original work, the award received 16 submissions from the leading universities of Turkey and the world this year. 12 submissions were received from Turkey, 2 from the United States, 1 from the UK, and 1 from Hong Kong. Four of the 16 applicants were PhD students while 12 were faculty members. 12 articles were in the field of economics and 6 in finance. Among articles in economics, which were assessed based on their theoretical or empirical studies in finance or microeconomics, 9 were based on theoretical analysis and 3 on empirical studies. Among articles in finance, 1 was theoretical while 5 were empirical-based.
This year's first prize went to Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas faculty Ümit Gürkan Gürün with his paper “Resident Networks and Firm Trade.” Mehmet İhsan Canayaz from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford came second with “Is the revolving door of Washington a back door to excess corporate returns?” and Koç University faculty Cem Demiroğlu came third with “Indicators of Collateral Misreporting.”
Introductory remarks of the event were delivered by Sabancı University School of Management Dean Professor Füsun Ülengin and Sabancı University President Professor Nihat Berker. Professor Berker expressed his happiness at having had a valubale faculty member like Hakan Orbay work for Sabancı University, saying "We will always be here for Hakan, so Hakan will always be here, among us."
Hakan Orbay’s wife Benan Zeki Orbay said “It was very difficult to make a selection this year because all submissions were of particular quality. It is moving that one of the winners is Hakan's former student. I'm thankful to Sabancı University for keeping Hakan's legacy alive. It also matters to my children that their father lives on with this award program.
Also speaking at the event was Hakan Orbay’s father Güner Orbay. Güner Orbay said, “Remembering Hakan at such an event and hearing such beautiful words spoken for him is an astonishing feeling. Hakan was a man of irreplaceable intellect. Learning was his greatest passion. His love for reading knew no bounds. Thank you for holding this meeting for Hakan."
Ümit Gürkan Gürün, winner of the Research Award, began by saying that Hakan Orbay was his professor in 1998. Speaking of what Hakan Orbay did for him, Gürün said, “He wrote my reference letter when I was applying for my PhD. He not only wrote excellent letters, but he guided me as well. His forthcoming assistance changed my life. Whenever we talk about Hakan Bey as his former students, we always remember him with love."
Third Prize winner Cem Demiroğlu said that although he never had a chance to meet Hakan Orbay, he knew that Orbay was a very successful scholar who was also greatly appreciated. Demiroğlu said, “Hakan Orbay would have been proud if he was among us today. And I admire Sabancı University for holding their faculty members in such high regard."
Winners received their prizes from Sabancı University President Professor Nihat Berker and Sabancı University School of Management Dean Professor Füsun Ülengin.
This year's jury panel consisted of Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty Member Zeki Orbay, Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences members Eren İnci and İzak Atiyas, Sabancı University School of Management faculty member Koray Deniz Şimşek, Aziz Şimşir, Yiğit Atılgan, Melsa Ararat and Nakiye Boyacıgiller.