On February 25, Prof. İhsan Doğramacı, the founder of Bilkent University, was commemorated on the 12th anniversary of his passing.
Early in the afternoon, a ceremony was held at the site of Prof. Doğramacı’s grave, outside the Doğramacızade Ali Paşa Mosque. Family members, along with Bilkent University Board of Trustees Chair Gülsev Kale, Bilkent University Rector Abdullah Atalar, Hacettepe University Rector Mehmet Cahit Güran, International Pediatric Association President Enver Hasanoğlu, Turkish National Committee for UNICEF Chair Tezer Kutluk and representatives of UNICEF, the UNICEF Volunteers Committee, the International Children’s Center and Bilkent Holding, gathered outside the mosque to pay their respects to Prof. Doğramacı’s memory. After the laying of wreaths on the grave, the attendees signed a memorial book.
Photograph by Özcan Akar
The day’s next event, a “Commemoration of İhsan Doğramacı on the 12th Anniversary of His Passing,” took place online. This was a panel organized by the İhsan Doğramacı Erbil Foundation. In addition to Prof. Kale, Prof. Hasanoğlu and Prof. Kutluk, the panelists were Dr. Rasim Özyürek, education and training coordinator at the İhsan Doğramacı Erbil Foundation; Prof. Abide Doğan, faculty member in the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Hacettepe University; and Prof. Zeynep Korkmaz, former acting chair of YÖK. Introductory remarks were given by Assoc. Prof. Fatma Taşkın, vice president of the Bilkent University Board of Trustees. During the panel, Prof. Doğramacı’s many services to humanity, in particular in the areas of education, health care, and Turkish culture and the Turkish world, were discussed.
In the evening, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra gave a concert dedicated to the memory of Prof. Doğramacı. The orchestra, conducted by Gürer Aykal, performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins, with soloists Yevgeniy Kostrytskyy and Irina Nikotina; two Vivaldi concertos for mandolin, with soloist Bülent Yazıcı; and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34.
Prof. Doğramacı’s daughter Şermin Savaşçı
Board of Trustees Chair Gülsev Kale