Bilkent Alumnae Accepts Tenure-Track Position at Columbia University

Dr. Neslihan Şenocak, the first student to be awarded a PhD in History from Bilkent University's History Department (2002), has obtained a tenure-track, Assistant Professorship at Columbia University to begin in the of Fall 2007. Dr. Şenocak also obtained postgraduate degrees from the Antonianum in Rome and from the Pontifical Institute in Toronto, and has a book in press, The Rise of Learning in the Franciscan Order 1210-1310, as well as several articles published in respected journals, making her well qualified for the post.

Like many of the students in Bilkent's History Department, Neslihan came to the department from another discipline; her undergraduate education was in Industrial Engineering at Middle East Technical University. During her MA and PhD education, Bilkent's History Department sent Neslihan to England to further her MA studies and then, in the course of her PhD, to Rome in conjunction with a scholarship from the Vatican. It was also at Bilkent that Neslihan gained her first experiences as a university teacher. After her PhD, she obtained various postdoctoral scholarships from Canada, the USA, the UK and Italy. The department and Bilkent congratulate Dr. Şenocak on her new position.