59 Notable alumni of Middle East Technical University
Updated: June 07, 2026 EliteDegrees
Middle East Technical University is 535st in the world, 1st in North America, and 3st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 59 notable alumni from Middle East Technical University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Middle East Technical University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Mehrafza Mirzazad Barijugh
1985-. (aged 41)
designer
Mehrafza Mirzazad Barijugh is an Iranian industrial designer, living in the United States. She completed her studies in industrial design at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. In 2010, she became the first female designer from either Iran or Turkey to be presented with the Red Dot Award: Design Concept Best of the Best prize for her ETU...
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2. Yaman Yener
1946-2013 (aged 67)
academic
scientist
Yaman Yener was a Turkish-American scientist.
3. Levent Gürel
1964-. (aged 62)
university teacher
scientist
engineer
Levent Gürel is a Turkish scientist and electrical engineer. He was the director of Computational Electromagnetics Research Center (BiLCEM) and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Bilkent University, Turkey until November 2014. Currently, he is serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is...
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4. Pembe Candaner
1957-. (aged 69)
businessperson
Pembe Candaner is a Turkish businesswoman, human resources expert and consultant, author, speaker, columnist and host of her TV show. Candaner served as the CEO of major corporations such as Adecco SA Turkey and Kariyer.net. She is a member of TUSIAD (Turkish Industry and Business Association), the top business association of Turkey and Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally to...
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5. Erdem Duhan Özensoy
1988-. (aged 38)
metallurgist
engineer
businessperson
Erdem Duhan Özensoy is a Turkish businessman and industrialist. Born in Ankara as the only son of one of Erol Özensoy, he attended high school at TED Ankara College. Duhan then studied at the Middle East Technical University and received his B.Sc. in Metallurgy & Materials Engineering with honors degree. Duhan is known for his works in stealth technology and...
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6. M. Tamer Özsu
1951-. (aged 75)
computer scientist
academic
university teacher
researcher
M. Tamer Özsu, FRSC is a Turkish Canadian computer scientist working in the area of distributed and parallel data management. He is a University Professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.
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7. Nader Al-Khateeb
1960-. (aged 66)
Nader Al-Khateeb is the General Director of the Water and Environmental Development Organization (WEDO), a non-profit Palestinian organization that promotes a number of environmental programs and projects centered on water quality control, water conservation, wastewater treatment and reuse, as well as solid waste management and recycling. He was also the Palestinian Director of EcoPeace Middle East (formerly Friends of the...
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8. Güven Sak
1961-. (aged 65)
economist
Güven Sak is a Turkish economist and academic.
9. Derya Akkaynak
academic
scientist
Derya Akkaynak is a Turkish mechanical engineer and oceanographer at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. She was a 2019 finalist for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
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10. Orkun Yazgan
1970-. (aged 56)
presenter
Orkun Yazgan is a Turkish TV presenter and musician.
11. İlkay Altıntaş
1977-. (aged 49)
academic
university teacher
computer scientist
researcher
data scientist
Ilkay Altintas is a Turkish-American data and computer scientist, and researcher in the domain of supercomputing and high-performance computing applications. Since 2015, Altintas has served as chief data science officer of the San Diego Supercomputer Center, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where she has also served as founder and director of the Workflows for Data Science Center...
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12. Turhan Erdoğan
1938-2019 (aged 81)
academic
Turhan Yaşar Erdoğan was a Turkish academic in civil engineering.
13. Hidayet Şefkatli Tuksal
1963-. (aged 63)
journalist
author
Hidayet Şefkatli Tuksal is a Turkish human rights activist, Islamic feminist and columnist. She lectures in theology at Mardin Artuklu University.
14. Fatih Yıldız
1971-. (aged 55)
diplomat
Fatih Yıldız is a Turkish diplomat who served as the ambassador of Turkey to Iraq from 2017 to 2021.
15. Erol Gelenbe
1945-. (aged 81)
academic
university teacher
computer scientist
researcher
engineer
Sami Erol Gelenbe is a Turkish and French computer scientist, electronic engineer and applied mathematician, known for pioneering work in computer system and network performance. His academic career spans several prestigious institutions and roles, including currently as Professor at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of the Polish Academy of Sciences since 2017, and visitor positions at King's College...
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16. Sevda Karaca Demir
1984-. (aged 42)
journalist
politician
Sevda Karaca Demir is a journalist and politician of the Labour Party (EMEP). Since June 2023 she is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing Gaziantep. Before she was a journalist for the newspaper Evrensel.
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17. Salih Memecan
1952-. (aged 74)
cartoonist
Salih Memecan is a Turkish editorial caricaturist and cartoonist. Memecan's political cartoon strip, Bizimcity, and comics cartoon strip, Sizinkiler, have been published daily in Sabah newspaper, one of the largest in Turkey, and weekly in the Aktüel magazine. The New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Baltimore Sun and The Philadelphia Inquirer have published Memecan's editorial...
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18. Aslı Sümen
1994-. (aged 32)
model
dancer
television actor
actor
film actor
Aslı Sümen is a Turkish actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was selected as Miss Turkey 2017.
19. Ece Sükan
1977-. (aged 49)
journalist
Ece Sükan is a Turkish actress and stylist, creative director and fashion editor who works in Istanbul and New York. She has been called a "Turkish street style star."
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20. Abdullah Atalar
1954-. (aged 72)
researcher
academic
engineer
university teacher
Abdullah Atalar is a Turkish scientist and academic. Atalar was the rector of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, and a professor at Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He received B.S. degree from Middle East Technical University, in 1974, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University in 1976 and 1978, respectively, all in Electrical Engineering. His thesis work was on reflection...
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21. Süreyya Ciliv
1958-. (aged 68)
entrepreneur
businessperson
Sureyya Ciliv is a business executive who is currently Chairman of System Capital, System Morgan and Kuika Inc. Between 2007 and 2015, Ciliv was the Chief Executive Officer of Turkcell Group, the leading technology and communications company in Turkey, a NYSE-listed company with 72 million subscribers in 8 countries. Previously, he held executive positions at Microsoft Corporation between 1997 and...
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22. Ataç İmamoğlu
1964-. (aged 62)
university teacher
researcher
physicist
Ataç İmamoğlu is a Turkish-Swiss physicist working on quantum optics and quantum computation. His academic interests are quantum optics, semiconductor physics, and nonlinear optics.
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23. Haydar Akar
1963-. (aged 63)
politician
Haydar Akar, is a Turkish politician, who is currently Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey since 16 July 2020.
24. Ali Dinçer
1945-2007 (aged 62)
politician
Ali Dinçer was a Turkish mechanical engineer, politician, former mayor of Ankara and former government minister.
25. Aylin Nazlıaka
1968-. (aged 58)
economist
businessperson
politician
Aylin Nazlıaka is a Turkish politician and businesswoman from the Republican People's Party.
26. Suat Günsel
1952-. (aged 74)
entrepreneur
Suat İrfan Günsel is a Turkish Cypriot property developer, businessman and founder and 100% owner of Cyprus's private Near East University. In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the second richest person in Cyprus and the 1,140th richest person in the world with a net worth of $2 billion.
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27. Hilmi Güler
1949-. (aged 77)
politician
Mehmet Hilmi Güler is a Turkish politician and metallurgical engineer. He was the Energy and Natural Resources Minister of Turkey in 2002–2009. He served as the general director of the Machines and Chemical Industries Board (MKEK) and Etibank. He was a founding member of the currently ruling AKP.
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28. Bülent Yıldırım
1972-. (aged 54)
association football player
association football referee
Bülent Yıldırım is a Turkish football referee.
29. Haydar Ergülen
1956-. (aged 70)
poet
Haydar Ergülen is a Turkish poet., he graduated from the Sociology Department at Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi (Middle East Technical University) in Ankara.
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30. Ahmet Özer
1960-. (aged 66)
politician
Ahmet Özer is a Turkish academic and politician.
31. Mehmet Ali Talat
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
Mehmet Ali Talat is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat was the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP), from 1996 to 2005 and 2015 to 2016. He became prime minister in 2004, and subsequently won the presidential election held on 17 April...
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32. Fikri Işık
1965-. (aged 61)
teacher
politician
Fikri Işık MP is a Turkish politician who served as the last Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 2017 to 2018. Previously, he served as Minister of Science, Industry and Technology from 2013 to 2016 and Minister of National Defense from 2016 to 2017. He is a Member of Parliament representing the Kocaeli Province on behalf of the ruling Justice...
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33. Amir Farshad Ebrahimi
1975-. (aged 51)
activist
blogger
journalist
Amir Farshad Ebrahimi is a founding and former member of hard-line pressure group Ansar-e Hezbollah, a former member of the Basij militia, and an Iranian journalist. Quitting Ansar-e Hezbollah after its involvement in the attack on students in 1999, he was imprisoned in Iran, fled to Turkey and then Germany, where as of 2009 he worked to publicly identify members...
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34. Emin Çölaşan
1942-. (aged 84)
journalist
writer
Emin Çölaşan is a Turkish investigative journalist, whose daily column appeared in the mass-circulation newspaper, Istanbul-based Hürriyet, for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007. Since 2007, he continues his column in Sözcü.
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35. Ertuğrul Kürkcü
1948-. (aged 78)
politician
writer
journalist
Ertuğrul Kürkçü is a Turkish politician, socialist activist and the current Honorary President of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) as of 22 June 2014 and Honorary Associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as of 8 October 2018.
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36. Eren Bali
1983-. (aged 43)
businessperson
Eren Bali is a Turkish engineer and technology entrepreneur based in the United States. He was the founding CEO of Udemy, a platform and marketplace for massive open online courses (MOOCs), and he is now the founder and CEO of Carbon Health, a primary healthcare franchise based in San Francisco.
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37. Osman Soykut
1957-. (aged 69)
actor
television actor
Osman Soykut, better known by his stage name Ozman Sirgood, is an American actor of Turkish and Dagestani heritage.
38. Öztürk Yılmaz
1969-. (aged 57)
diplomat
politician
Öztürk Yılmaz is a Turkish former diplomat and politician. Having served as the Turkish embassy secretary to Kyrgyzstan and Brazil, he was appointed as the Consul General of Turkey to Mosul in 2013. He was taken hostage in June 2014 and held for 101 days along with 48 other diplomats after Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants took...
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39. Alev Alatlı
1944-2024 (aged 80)
columnist
journalist
philosopher
translator
economist
Alev Alatlı was a Turkish columnist, bestselling novelist, academic and economist.
40. Mustafa Varank
1976-. (aged 50)
politician
Mustafa Varank is a Turkish politician and bureaucrat who previously served as the Minister of Industry and Technology.
41. İlhan Kesici
1948-. (aged 78)
politician
İlhan Kesici is a Turkish politician from the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has served as the Member of Parliament for Istanbul's first electoral district since 2015. He previously served as a CHP MP for the same district from 2007 to 2011 and as an MP for Bursa from 1995 to 1999 while he was a member of the Motherland...
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42. Can Dündar
1961-. (aged 65)
columnist
screenwriter
film screenwriter
film director
documentarian
Can Dündar is a Turkish journalist, columnist and documentarian. Editor-in-chief of center-left Cumhuriyet newspaper until August 2016, he was arrested in November 2015 after his newspaper published footage showing the State Intelligence MİT sending weapons to Syrian Islamist fighters.
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43. Michael Brooks
1983-2020 (aged 37)
political pundit
talk show host
writer
podcaster
television producer
Michael Jamal Brooks was an American talk show host, writer, left-wing political commentator, and comedian. While co-hosting The Majority Report with Sam Seder, he launched The Michael Brooks Show in August 2017 and provided commentary for media outlets, making regular appearances on shows such as The Young Turks. Brooks contributed to various publications, including HuffPost, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera,...
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44. Şebnem Ferah
1972-. (aged 54)
composer
songwriter
singer
musician
Şebnem Ferah is a Turkish singer, songwriter, composer, and guitarist. She was the lead vocalist of the all-female hard rock band Volvox until 1994, after which she went on to pursue an illustrious solo career. Her music style varies from pop rock to hard rock though her later albums have progressively incorporated more of the hard rock sound.
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45. Selin Sayek Böke
1972-. (aged 54)
university teacher
economist
politician
Selin Sayek Böke is a Turkish politician, member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has served as a Member of Parliament for İzmir from 23 June 2015 to 14 May 2023. She was first elected at the June 2015 general election. She served as the deputy leader of the CHP responsible for economic policies from 14 September 2014 to...
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46. Mustafa Akıncı
1947-. (aged 79)
architect
politician
Mustafa Akıncı is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020.
47. Hamid Karzai
1957-. (aged 69)
politician
Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who served as the seventh president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He also served as chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration from 2001 to 2002.
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48. Elif Şafak
1971-. (aged 55)
novelist
writer
journalist
Elif Shafak is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, political scientist, and activist.
49. Ali Babacan
1967-. (aged 59)
diplomat
engineer
politician
Ali Babacan is a Turkish politician, economist, and engineer. He is the founder and current leader of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA). He served 13 years as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy, Chief Negotiator for the EU and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 2002 to 2015. He was a member of the parliament as well.
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50. Erdem Başçı
1966-. (aged 60)
engineer
economist
Erdem Başçı is a Turkish economist and the former Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey in the 2010s.
51. Onur Saylak
1977-. (aged 49)
actor
television director
film director
Arif Onur Saylak is a Turkish actor, filmmaker and director. He was married for six years to Tuba Büyüküstün, with whom he has twin daughters.
52. Cevdet Yılmaz
1967-. (aged 59)
businessperson
politician
Cevdet Yılmaz is a Turkish politician who has been the 2nd and current vice president of Turkey since 2023. Previously, he served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the interim election government formed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu from 28 August to 17 November 2015. He previously served as the Minister of Development from 2011 to 2015 and...
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53. Nabi Avcı
1953-. (aged 73)
politician
Nabi Avcı is a Turkish academic, writer and politician who was formerly chief advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
54. Ali Nihat Yazıcı
1964-. (aged 62)
chess player
engineer
Ali Nihat Yazıcı is the head of Turkish Chess Federation.
55. Alparslan Bayraktar
1975-. (aged 51)
politician
Alparslan Bayraktar is a Turkish academic, engineer, and politician. He has served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources since 2023. Before being elected to this position, he served as the deputy minister and a commissioner of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority. Bayraktar has also served as the chair of the World Energy Council for Turkey since 2015, and...
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56. Halil Mete Soner
1959-. (aged 67)
mathematician
academic
university teacher
researcher
Halil Mete Soner is a Turkish American mathematician born in Ankara and is the Norman John Sollenberger Professor at Princeton University. Soner's research interests are nonlinear partial differential equations; asymptotic analysis of Ginzburg-Landau type systems, viscosity solutions, and mathematical finance. Currently he is working on mean field games and control and related nonlinear partial differential equations on Wasserstein spaces.
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57. Utku Ünal
1969-. (aged 57)
musician
Utku Ünal is a Turkish musician.
58. Taner Akçam
1953-. (aged 73)
university teacher
film director
historian
human rights defender
sociologist
Altuğ Taner Akçam is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and has written several books on the genocide, such as A Shameful Act (1999), From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide (2004), The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity (2012), and Killing Orders (2018). He...
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59. Rita Orji
computer scientist
Rita Orji Listen is a Nigerian-Canadian computer scientist who is a Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology, a Professor, and the Director of the Persuasive Computing Lab at Dalhousie University. Her work is in the area of human–computer interaction with a major focus on designing interactive systems to achieve health and well being objectives. She has won over 70 awards...
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