Photograph by Aydın Ramazanoğlu
Last Sunday, April 3, marked the 107th anniversary of the birth of Bilkent University’s beloved founder, Prof. İhsan Doğramacı. Each year, Bilkent celebrates Prof. Doğramacı’s birthday as Bilkent Day, with events including a conference and a Bilkent Symphony Orchestra concert.
The Bilkent Day Conference, which was held via Zoom, began at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The conference opened with the showing of a brief excerpt from a videotaped conversation that Prof. Doğramacı had with Hacettepe students in 2005.
Next, Prof. Gülsev Kale, chair of the Bilkent University Board of Trustees, gave a talk in which she highlighted the significance of the day, celebrating as it does both the university itself and the birthday of its founder.
“In the time since its founding, our university has attained the position it holds today as an elite institution of higher education, in line with the opportunities Prof. Doğramacı created, the order he established and the principles he believed in,” she stated. “As members of the Bilkent community, we are responsible for carrying forward the institutions and values that have been entrusted to us, in accordance with his principle, ‘onward, to the best.’ I deeply feel the responsibility of protecting this important legacy, and I would like to reiterate my belief that the greatest gift we can give him will be the bright future of Bilkent University. Happy birthday, Hocabey, you live on in our hearts and through your work.”
The program concluded with a presentation by Rector Abdullah Atalar on “The State of the University.” In his presentation, Rector Atalar highlighted the university’s most recent achievements in education, scholarship and research.
At 8 p.m. that evening, the BSO presented a special concert in honor of the occasion. Conducted by Gürer Aykal, with Gülsin Onay as piano soloist, the performance took place in the Bilkent Concert Hall. The program featured Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor and Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 in G major (“Military”).