To celebrate the 20th year of our university, we have prepared a set of four questions to ask faculty and administrative personnel who have been with us since the beginning, and to our first students. They all tell "the story of 20 years" from their own perspectives.
Going in alphabetical order, this week's interviewee for "The Story of 20 Years" is Gündüz Ulusoy.
Gündüz Ulusoy has been a member of the Sabancı University family since 1 September 1999. Gündüz Ulusoy, who has been a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University for 21 years, has been one of our Emeritus faculty members since 4 July 2015.
Gündüz Ulusoy’s answers to our four questions are below.
What was your initial memory / impression of when you met Sabancı University for the first time?
G.U: I met Sabancı University at a Search Conference for the Faculty of Engineering. It was back in 1998. I do not remember the month and day. We met on a Friday evening at Yeşilköy Çınar Hotel. I remember Tosun Terzioğlu, Hüsnü Paçacıoğlu, Ahmet Evin, Muhittin Oral, Kemal İnan, Banu Onaral, and Nesim Erkip being there. I had dinner with Mrs. Güler Sabancı on Friday evening and we had an intense brainstorming session for the following two days. Later, I delivered a two-page information note on Production Systems Engineering to Mr. Terzioğlu.
A collegial environment formed in a short time with a small community and I was honestly impressed with open and sincere behaviors, the open approach to innovation, the professionalism in conversations, the scope and structure of the Faculty, and the position of the Faculty in an international context. Later, when Mr. Terzioğlu proposed to me a faculty member position to establish the Production Systems Engineering Program, all I asked was whether the Sabancı family had an impact on academic recruitment and promotions. He said, “No” without hesitation. It was enough for me to make my decision. Later, this issue was given a broader framework with the Declaration of Academic Freedoms.
What are the differences between yourself 20 years ago and yourself today, and how did Sabancı University contribute to that change?
G.U: Collegial environment provided by Sabancı University, the emphasis on academic freedom, ups, downs, successes, failures, meeting new colleagues, seeking the better together, the pleasure and responsibility of creating the foundations of a young and innovative structure... 20 years full of these... Frankly, to sum up, it has been a pleasant 20 years. I became Emeritus in 2015. Of course, the scope and weight of my work has changed, but I always continue to approach my work from an innovative perspective, try new things, try to do what I do in the best way possible.
What comes into your mind when you think of Sabancı University in 20 years? What are your dreams for Sabancı University for the next 20 years? What about yourself?
G.U: What comes to my mind when you say Sabancı University is that it is an institution that is always ambitious in an international context, has determined the parameters of development correctly and is constantly striving for development in this direction, and supports it with innovative approaches and can achieve it without compromising academic freedom. I think my dream 20 years from now is a Sabancı University that lives on without losing these basic features under the circumstances of that period.
As for myself, I want to publish an English textbook and prepare the Turkish version as well.
Where and how would you be now if your paths hadn't crossed with Sabancı University?
G.U: If I had not joined Sabancı University, I would have continued at Boğaziçi University. The university environment is my living environment. It always has been that way, and it always will be.