AYGÜN ÇATAK (Chairperson)

Aygün Çatak completed her undergraduate education at the Department of English Linguistics at Hacettepe University in 2004 and also received pedagogical formation training at Hacettepe University. After working as an English Instructor at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Istanbul Kültür University between 2004 and 2006, she worked as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at The University of Texas Pan-American, now known as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, with a Fulbright scholarship between 2006 and 2007. She has successfully completed the Fulbright FLTA program. In 2012, she completed the Foreign Language Education (MA TEFL) master's program at Bahçeşehir University with honors. Aygün Çatak, who carried out the Teacher Education Project with the Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV), is also the Coordinator of the Harvard GlobalWE Essay Contest on Women Empowerment, organized by Harvard University, as well as the Coordinator of the Autumn Teachers Conference (ATC) and KOÇ ELT Conference. As a member of the Koç Group Sustainable Development Committee, she carries out projects with students on the Sustainable Development Goals. She has 19 years of foreign language teaching experience and has been working as an English Teacher at the Vehbi Koç Foundation Koç School since her return to his country. Shee became a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association in 2010, served as the secretary general of the Board of Directors since 2013, and has become the chairperson in June 2023.

Dr. ÜMİT YAZMAN (Vice President)

Dr. M. Ümit Yazıman completed his primary, secondary and high school education at TED Ankara College. He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Medicine in 1989. He completed his "Psychiatry" specialty training at Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital. He was accepted to Johns Hopkins University with a scholarship and completed his post-specialty education on Addiction Prevention and Treatment. Later, he worked in the United States at: University of Virginia, Center for Mind and Human Interaction, University of Pittsburgh, CEDAR Center and UCLA, Neuropsychiatric Institute. Returning to his country after his studies in the USA, Dr. M. Ümit Yazıman started to provide services in his field of expertise in the private clinic he opened in his name. To date, he has taken part as a speaker in many meetings, including various universities and educational institutions. He made presentations at panels and conferences at home and abroad. He wrote more than 100 articles published in national newspapers and magazines. He has interviews and evaluations in his fields of expertise in many programs broadcast on different television channels. He currently continues his work in his private clinic in Istanbul-Levent.

ÖZLEM ÖZYİĞİT (Vice President)

Özlem Özyiğit, who graduated from Kadıköy Anatolian High School and Boğaziçi University Department of Business Administration, completed her Master's degree in Finance with a double major in Corporate Finance and Banking at Georgia State University, Atlanta, with a Fulbright scholarship. Özyiğit, who started his career at Saudi American Bank in 1991, later worked at Garanti Yatırım Bankası. Özyiğit, who moved to Finans Yatırım Menkul Değerler in 1996, was appointed Deputy General Manager responsible for Investment Banking in 2000 and a Member of the Board of Directors in 2007. Until 2011, he provided consultancy to local and foreign companies within the Finansbank group on mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, privatization, project finance and restructuring. Between 2011 and 2020, he served as the Secretary General of the International Investors Association (YASED). He supported all kinds of investment and growth policies of companies in our country and produced policies and solutions for their financial, legal and state problems. In line with his 30 years of management and leadership experience in the private sector and public sector and the responsibilities he has taken on boards of directors, he has been serving as the founding partner of A-Partners Business Solutions consultancy company since 2020. She is a board member of the Board Members Association (YUD) and a member of the Professional Women's Network (PWN).

Prof. Dr. ZÜHAL ULUSOY

She completed his bachelor's and master's degree at METU Department of Architecture, and her master's and doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA), where she went with a Fulbright scholarship. She served as the Head of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Department at Bilkent University between 1992-2005, and gave lectures and continued his research at Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Architecture in 2003-2004. Ulusoy, who worked at Izmir University of Economics, Department of Architecture between 2005 and 2008, worked as the Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at Kadir Has University, which she started in 2008, until 2015, and as the director of the Architecture and Urban Studies Master's Program between 2017-2018. She gives courses on urban architecture, housing and architectural concepts in studios at basic design and urban design levels, and conducts postgraduate theses. Her research focuses on design education and urban studies, especially urban design, urban renewal and transformation, and she has articles, book chapters, proceedings and invited speeches in international and national journals on these subjects. She works as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University, which she started in October 2018.

Dr. HANDE GÜNDÜZ (Treasurer)

Hande Gündüz completed her undergraduate education in the chemistry department of Istanbul Technical University in 2009. During her undergraduate education, he studied at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, as an Erasmus scholar. After her graduation, she was accepted to the ITU chemistry department with a bachelor's degree and a doctorate. As a Fulbright scholar, she continued his doctoral studies as a visiting researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 2013 and 2014. She worked as a research assistant at ITU during his doctorate period. She completed his doctorate in 2019 and started working as a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Koç University in the same year. She still continues his duty and simultaneously continues her postdoctoral research at Koç University.

BURAK BEKİRCAN

He received his Film Directing education in Seattle WA, USA, with a Fulbright scholarship. The Novartis commercial, which he produced and directed, received the "Best Advertising Film" award at the Felis Awards in 2017. He shot the award-winning documentary series "One World of Life", which was broadcast on TRT Belgesel, about extraordinary human stories in four continents of the world. The director, who shot advertisements and photographs for brands such as Turkish Airlines, Petrol Ofisi, Koton, Motul, Pantane, Muzaffer ÇAHA, Mapfree Sigorta, also took part in the Turkish shootings of foreign productions such as NETFLIX USA Rise of Empires: Ottoman and Sony Pictures Sniper El Senor De Los Cielos. took. He continues to work on commercials, documentaries and feature films.

Dr. IŞIL ACEHAN

Dr. Işıl Acehan - carries out her studies as a visiting scholar at George Mason University, Ali Vural Ak Islamic Research Center. Dr., whose scientific studies are on the first Turkish/Muslim immigrants in the USA and the history of Turkish-American relations. Acehan completed her Master's and Doctorate degrees at Bilkent University, Department of History. She carried out his postdoctoral work at Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII in Bologna. During her doctoral research, she received many scholarships and research support, including Fulbright, Turkish Cultural Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Freie Universität Berlin (JFK Institute) scholarships. In the 2006-2007 academic year, she was a Fulbright scholar at Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. During her stay in the USA, she attended lectures at Harvard and conducted her doctoral thesis research in Harvard University libraries. She taught US History at both undergraduate and graduate levels at Bilkent University. She writes articles on the website "Turks in America", which she founded under the umbrella of George Mason University, Ali Vural Ak Islamic Research Center, and is the project director of the documentary "Ottoman America", which he conducted with Bahçeşehir/Bay Atlantic University.

 

BANU AKSOY MACİT

Banu Aksoy Macit completed her undergraduate education at METU Psychology Department and her master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at New York University with the Fulbright Scholarship. Banu Aksoy Macit, who started her career in the United States, has undertaken various roles in the field of Human Resources in domestic and foreign companies for more than 15 years. She continues her career as a Human Resources Professional in a UK-based company. He has published articles in the fields of employee welfare, employee engagement and organizational psychology, and also provides training on Communication, Conflict Management and Motivation processes. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the İç Anadaolu Branch of the Personnel Management Association, which leads a better working life for today and the future. Banu Aksoy Macit, who has chosen to specialize in executive and team coaching, is an ICF approved (International Coaching Federation) Professional Coach who provides coaching services to her clients in Turkish and/or English. He wants to be a part of people's change processes by listening, understanding and coaching them on their way to where they want to be in their lives.