University Administration Handover Ceremony 

On Tuesday, September 8, a University Administration Handover Ceremony for academic and administrative staff was held at the FMPA Concert Hall to share details about recent changes in the university’s administration and organizational structure. 

Prof. Orhan Aytür assumed the role of Rector on July 28, 2026, upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees and with the approval of the Council of Higher Education. 

The new administration includes Prof. Ezhan Karaşan as Provost; Prof. Hüseyin Boyacı as Vice Rector for Research and Innovation; and Prof. Emin Karagözoğlu as Vice Rector for Student Affairs. Sinan Atalar was appointed Secretary General. Assoc. Prof. Emine Ülkü Sarıtaş (who continues in the role) and Assoc. Prof. Efe Tokdemir are the Associate Provosts. Assoc. Prof. Emel Özdora continues as Advisor to the Rector for Communications. 

The meeting began with a mini concert by Bilkent Symphony Orchestra members Fatima Mahmudbaylı, Süleyman Babakishizade and Üzeyir Mahmudbaylı, who performed Antonín Dvořák’s Terzetto in C Major, Op. 74. 

Board of Trustees Chair Prof. Gülsev Kale next took the stage to express the board’s gratitude to Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan, who served as Bilkent’s rector for the past four years, and to wish Prof. Orhan Aytür and the new administration success. “What makes an institution strong is not only the success it has achieved in the past, but its ability to educate and prepare the people who will carry that success forward,” she said. “Bilkent’s greatest strength, as it has always been, will be the values and principles it carefully protects, together with the young generations it continues to educate and support.” 

The ceremony continued with a speech by Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan, a reflection on his 40 years at Bilkent and his thanks to colleagues and university staff. “Looking back today, I believe that my greatest gain has not been the positions I have held or the titles I have carried, but the people with whom I have had the privilege of working,” he said. 

The ceremony concluded with a presentation by Rector Prof. Orhan Aytür on the current state of the university, the introduction of the new administration and its plans for the future. “Our task is to preserve what is fundamental to Bilkent while adapting intelligently to a changing world,” he said, adding, “We will shape Bilkent’s future together.”