The university is pleased to announce the recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Awards for the 2023–24 academic year. Dr. Yiğit Acar, Prof. Ergin Atalar, Assoc. Prof. Ali Javili and Asst. Prof. Burçin Kısacıkoğlu were chosen for demonstrating outstanding teaching abilities and for contributing to students’ academic and intellectual development. Please see page 3 for the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award recipients’ statements.
Yiğit Acar (ARCH)
I am truly honored to receive this award and would like to thank the many current and past students I have had the chance to teach. My teaching statement was titled “It Takes a Village” and refers to our collective efforts in providing a healthy and productive learning environment. I would also like to thank all my current and past colleagues as well as our students and graduates with whom we have built this learning environment. I would like to thank; Burcu Şenyapılı Özcan, Yasemin Afacan, Deniz Üçer Erduran, Hatice Karaca, Efe Alpay, Burcu Baykan, Burcu Aydınalp Egel and Ezgi İşbilen for nominating and supporting me. I give special thanks to my students and colleagues for their support and for putting in the time and effort to write the detailed nomination letters that have made me feel proud.
Being academically interested in teaching and having studied at and visited many schools, I can say that the community of Bilkent is a special one with a highly dedicated and hardworking community. Our students have high societal and professional goals that make teaching at Bilkent both challenging and rewarding. As the Department of Architecture, we have already established a great group of graduates who are continuing their studies in top universities all around the world, working in the best companies and building up their own practices.
Teaching is a two-way practice that transforms all the subjects involved. It helps the teacher to grow and become a better version of his/herself. Through my teaching at Bilkent I feel that I have grown alongside with a great group of colleagues and students. It is a privilege to be a part of this great community.
Ergin Atalar (EE)
I am honored to receive the Bilkent University 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award. I thank the teaching award committee of the EEE department for nominating me.
Reflecting on over three decades of my teaching experience, I teach complicated subjects. Luckily, all my students are very smart and hardworking. I feel high anxiety before classes start. I could do better than I have done in the past. I think about motivating students to learn these subjects. I am not always successful. I try to improve myself every year. I thank all of my past students who have helped me in this process. While correcting my teaching methods, I also receive help from my fellow faculty members. I am honored to be working with them. Unfortunately, my administrative and research duties have reduced the time I had reserved for teaching, but I’ve received help from an army of teaching assistants. With their help, my teaching effectiveness has improved. I thank them for their assistance. This award should also go to them.
I keep in touch with my former students and am very proud of their professional advancement. The nomination process turned out to be very fun for me. It helped me reconnect with many of the students I had not been able to communicate with. I thank them for supporting my nomination.
Ali Javili (ME)
When I was eight, if someone asked the students in the classroom about their dream job, most students wanted to become pilots or policemen (with a few exceptions who aspired to become Bruce Lee!). I wanted to become a teacher. Through the years, the spectrum changed, and my classmates’ aspirational careers shifted to becoming doctors, engineers or lawyers. However, I never doubted my decision. For as long as I can recall, I wanted to be a teacher not only as a profession but also as a calling. Teaching is a true passion of mine, and I see it as a rewarding — fortunately everlasting — journey of which I enjoy every step. I consider myself extremely lucky for the opportunity to make a living doing what I love to do.
It is an indescribable honor and sheer privilege to have received the Bilkent University Distinguished Teaching Award, one that fills me with overwhelming gratitude and humility. I am thrilled to be recognized for something I am deeply passionate about. This award is not merely a reflection of my own endeavor but also of the support and encouragement I have received from my colleagues. I am truly humbled and deeply thankful for their guidance and inspiration, which have helped shape me into the educator I have become. I would particularly like to express my sincere gratitude to our department chair, Prof. İlker Temizer, and to our dean, Prof. Orhan Arıkan, for nominating and supporting me, and to the Bilkent Teaching Award Committee. I am also thankful to my students for their support letters and their bittersweet course evaluations over the years. Last but not least, I am extremely thankful to the entire BilMech family, and especially to Ela Hanım, whose unwavering assistance cannot be expressed by words.
Burçin Kısacıkoğlu (ECON)
I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the 2024 Bilkent University Distinguished Teaching Award. It is particularly meaningful to be recognized among the faculty members who inspired me during my undergraduate years in the Department of Economics two decades ago. My teaching philosophy has been shaped by these experiences, emphasizing the importance of education in fostering critical thinking, curiosity and a lifelong passion for learning.
My tenure at Bilkent has been a profoundly rewarding journey. I am immensely grateful for this award, which reflects Bilkent’s commitment to excellence in teaching and education. I extend my thanks to my colleagues for their nominations and supportive letters as well as to my current and former students, both graduate and undergraduate, who have enriched my understanding of effective teaching. Learning is indeed a reciprocal process, and this award would not have been possible without their invaluable feedback. I have gained so much from these interactions and look forward to continuing to learn from future generations of students.
Receiving this prestigious award reaffirms my dedication to teaching and research. As an academic, I believe in the dual responsibility of transferring knowledge as well as producing it. I am committed to pursuing these goals with unwavering dedication during my tenure at Bilkent.
