Wednesday talks with Nesrin Balkan
Bahri Yılmaz: “I have a fairly well idea of the financial and social difficulties of being an immigrant. My family and I lived through the ordeal of leaving all possessions and relationships behind to start a new life.”
This week’s guest of Wednesday Talks is Bahri Yılmaz. He has been a member of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences since 1998, when the university admitted its first students, and is also an “Emeritus Professor” – which is an honorary designation reserved for the most distinguished faculty members with excellent academic careers and contributions to the university and society.
Despite a brilliant career spanning four decades, Bahri Bey is a down-to-earth, pleasant, accessible and easygoing person, and I think you will find his interview particularly interesting. This week, we will discuss his 16 years in Sabancı University, and his thoughts on what it takes to be a truly “global university” based on his experiences in Cambridge and Harvard as a visiting professor. Next week, we will learn more about his work in the London Conference on Nazi Gold where he represented Turkey.
Bahri Bey, you and my father come from the same lands.
Yes, my family and I are Bulgarian immigrants.
Immigrants from Bulgaria specifically call themselves muhacir – which I heard a lot from my father. Can you talk about this phenomenon?
That word was very common in our family too. Yes, we are Bulgarian immigrants – the last of the Ottoman population in the Balkans. That’s why I have a fairly well idea of the financial and social difficulties of being an immigrant (muhacir). My family and I lived through the ordeal of leaving all possessions and relationships behind to start a new life. I grew up with the history and memories of Rumeli. So a journey “across the pond” is always very pleasant and emotional for me.
Bahri Bey, I have known you for 15 years. You were among the first faculty to join Sabancı University in 1998.
Indeed, I am among the first members of the university. My relationship to Sabancı University began in the search conference in 1996. I was a faculty member of Bilkent University at the time. Search conferences continued until the establishment of the univeristy with participation by many academics from a number of universities. I started in Sabancı University on June 1st, 1998, in what is today the Karaköy Communication Center.
So you have been in Sabancı University for 16 years.
Yes, 16 consecutive years.
Your wife Ayşe Yılmaz is also Sabancı University faculty.
Yes, we were transferred from Bilkent University as a couple, and we have been giving courses here for 16 years.
You are working on economics.
Yes.
We know you have graduated from Istanbul University in 1966 and did a master’s and PhD in Economics at the University of Bonn in Germany, finishing in 1973. What happened after that?
I went to Wolfson College Cambridge for postdoctoral studies, and I returned to Turkey after a year and a half there. Since I had benefited from a state scholarship (we used to have state scholarships at the time), I started work in the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Hacettepe University to complete my compulsory service. I then won an Alexander von Humboldt grant to work at the University of Münster for one year, and then went on to work in the University of Munich until 1991. From 1991 to 1998, I was a faculty member at Bilkent University, and since then I have been a faculty member of Sabancı University.
You were an advisor to the government on Turkish-EU relations.
Yes; I was an advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister between 1997 and 2002, and I worked with Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit and Secretary of State Şükrü Sina Gürel.
You are well known in EU circles due to your work, is that correct?
Yes, I have been involved in EU-related matters for a long time. Since I won the Jean Monnet Chair in 2002, EU has been one of my fields of interest. In 2010, I was elected to the EU Board of Advisors for relations between the EU and Mediterranean countries, which means that I have a very close relationship with the EU.
What are your current fields of interest?
My fields are international economics, EU relations, and the history of the theory of economics. I give courses in these fields, and I’m currently working more closely on emerging nations and China.
You have lived the first years of Sabancı University; can you talk about those days?
I already said that my relationship to Sabancı University began in 1996 with the search conference. When I started in 1998, the university was just being founded and the campus was in construction. The first barbecue party of the President was held around a little shed in the woods next to the Rectorate today. An expanse of barren land with just the foundations of our current buildings was not at all like what our campus is today. The barbecue party will be remembered by everyone there as a pleasant and sincere memory. At first we were in Karaköy; then all academic divisions were moved here, to the newly-completed Information Center. In other words, I witnessed Sabancı University being built from the ground up. It was a very exciting beginning. I can never forget what Sakıp Bey and Güler Hanım did for the university. Sakıp Bey’s thorough involvement and investment of considerable time shows that, while it was a family decision to establish Sabancı University, Sakıp Bey was the champion of the idea. Sakıp Bey also told me that his mother was always in support of a university.
Is that so?
Indeed. “I asked mom” he said to me; in fact, she had said that she was prepared to finance everything as well. After Sakıp Bey got the go-ahead from his mother, both him and Güler Hanım made significant contributions to the university. Sakıp Bey attended search conferences himself to follow up on developments. He played an immense part in making the university what it is today, and his contributions still continue in his capacity as the Honorary Chairman.
How long has your academic career been?
I started in 1975, so it’s almost 40 years.
Almost half of that time was spent at Sabancı University, right?
That is the case. Like all my colleagues, I put in a tremendous effort day after day to make our university one of the most reputable institutions not just in Turkey but worldwide. We contribute to the vision and identity of our university with our research and academic positions. Culture and identity are what makes a university. A university is not only about courses and conveying knowledge; students also learn the culture that the university wants to instill. Culture is exactly what separates a university from a college. Sabancı University gained its own culture and identity over time, and I believe this will develop even more.
You have been a visiting professor in Cambridge and Harvard – some of the best universities in the world. Based on this, what can you say about university culture and universal values?
In the global age, students in pretty much every university study the same textbooks and use the same sources. The textbooks used in Sabancı University are the same as those in Harvard, Cambridge or Oxford. The difference in Cambridge is its institutional culture. The system is built atop tradition. This tradition goes back for 800 years, and continues today. We are living in an age of elitist universities. You need to find the best students regardless of where they are, and give them scholarships. You need to employ the best researchers and academics. You need to provide the best physical conditions. You can’t just educate your students; you must also give them social skills, which are very important. People in business are expected to have a strong social presence and be able to talk about many different aspects of life from wine to history, politics, nature, environment and literature – not just business.
I believe that in order to become a global institution, a university has to be equipped to compete on an international level, embrace an institutional culture, and prove its comparative worth first in Turkey, and then among international education institutions in the long run. One other thing I might add is the need for a university to create its own financial resources to the maximum extent.
Bahri Bey, you have a single child I think…
Yes, I have a daughter who is a lawyer.
Does she practice in Turkey?
She’s working in an international institution in France.
To be continued