İhsan Doğramacı's 96th Birthday Commemorated April 3
April 3 marked the ninety-sixth birthday of Bilkent's beloved founder, Prof. İhsan Doğramacı. Bilkent kept the date with celebrations indicative of Prof. Doğramacı's greatest contributions, education and health.
A conference titled "How Can We Achieve a Truly Broad Education?" was held in memory of Prof. Doğramacı at the Bilkent Hotel on Sunday, April 3 at 3 p.m. The conference featured lectures by Turkish and international experts on education and colleagues of Prof. Doğramacı.
Following welcoming remarks by Bilkent's president, Prof. Ali Doğramacı, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prof. Elçin Efendiyev said in memory of Prof. Doğramacı: "He pursued the activities of a world citizen, a scientist, a pedagogue and an organizer. İhsan Doğramacı was very broad and defied limits. The friendship of the late Haydar Aliyev and Doğramacı indicated the closeness of mind of these two great men."
Prof. Dr. Obay Al-Dewachi, president of Mosul University in Iraq, presented a videoconference titled "A Broad Education: Examples from İhsan Doğramacı's Vision for Connecting Globally." The conference demonstrated how Prof. Doğramacı was a regional and world leader in the area of higher education and how his philosophies have inspired educators outside Turkey.
Prof. Hikmet Sami Türk, former Turkish minister of justice, paid tribute by saying: "İhsan Doğramacı spent all his life to serve education and medicine in Turkey and for all mankind. He spent his whole life serving people. Education is the ultimate investment; therefore he founded two universities, institutions of broad learning. But he had other gifts for the world as well; he was a pediatrician, a physician, and a scholar. He trained thousands of students and is a great figure in Turkish history."
Following these remarks, the enthusiastic audience was treated to a superb mini concert by Music Preparatory School students Berfin Aksu on violin and Yener Gökbudak on piano. Aksu performed J. Achron's Hebrew Melody and J. Brahms' Hungarian Dance no. 5 in G minor. Gökbudak performed J.S. Bach - S. Rachmaninov, Prelude in E major.
After a short break, the second part of the conference included an impressive series of lectures by world education experts expressing how Prof. Doğramacı influenced their educational and business philosophies: Dr. Ignaz Bender, chancellor emeritus of the University of Trier, Germany; Prof. Dr. Nam P. Suh, president, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Mr. Hüsnü Özyeğin, founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees, Özyeğin University; and Prof. Yusuf Ziya Özcan, president, The Council of Higher Education. Each gave a presentation reflecting higher education, which of course fits in with how Prof. Doğramacı's vision can be carried forward.
H.E.M. Vecdi Gönül, Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkey, spoke last and summed up how everyone felt about Prof. Doğramacı: "Hocabey was an exemplary human being and a leading personality, a man who loved challenges. He set an example with his life because he put his experience into practice."
The conference concluded with a reception, but the celebration was far from over. The Bilkent and Anadolu University Symphony Orchestras performed a special commemorative concert in honor of Prof. Doğramacı's birthday at the Bilkent Concert Hall. On the program was a scene from Y. Aydın's opera Saygun Emre in its world premiere and G. Mahler's Symphony No.1 (Titan) in D major.