Prof. Öktem Vardar

Dr. Öktem Vardar graduated from Robert College, Istanbul in 1971 with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. He received his MS and PhD degrees at the University of California at Berkeley, in 1972 and 1975, respectively. He was a faculty member at Boğaziçi University from 1975 to 2004 where he was promoted to associate professor in 1981 and to full professor in 1988. His field of specialization covers mechanical design, mechanical behavior of engineering materials, fatigue and fracture mechanics. He established the Fracture Laboratory  in Boğaziçi University. He served as the vice rector of Boğaziçi University in 1994-2000, and as the chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2001-2004. He joined Işık University in 2004-2010 as the provost and the vice rector for academic affairs.

Professor Vardar was a member of the Higher Education Council (YÖK), member of the Executive Board of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), chairman of the Executive Board of Feza Gursey Research Institute, member of the  Executive Board of the Turkish Institute for Industrial Management (TÜSSIDE), member of the Executive Board of National Metrology Institute.

He has been a reviewer in the EUA Institutional Evaluation Program since 2003. He served as the Secretary General of the Magna Charta Observatory in 2011, as the founding president of TED University in Ankara, Turkey in 2011-2015; currently he is a member of the Board of Trustees of TED University and a member of the Presidential Board of Education Policies

Personal website: www.oktemvardar.com