Board of Trustees

Born in 1944. Mr.Özyeğin graduated from Robert Academy in 1963. Also, Mr. Özyeğin holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He was the General Manager of Pamukbank during 1977-1984 and General Manager and CEO of Yapı ve Kredi Bank during 1984-1987. Mr.Özyeğin founded Finansbank in 1987 and served as the Founder and Chairman of Finansbank A.Ş. between 1987 – 2010. Mr. Özyeğin still continues to serve as the Chairman of Fibabanka A.Ş. and Credit Europe Bank (Russia). Hüsnü M. Özyeğin is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Özyeğin University and Member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors of Harvard Business School.

Prof. Dr. Hasan Pirkul received his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in 1977. He obtained his Master's Degree and PhD in Administrative Sciences and Computer-Information Systems, respectively, from the University of Rochester. He served as Academic Director for Information Systems at the College of Business, as a professor of Accounting and Information Systems and as Founding Director of the Center for Information Technologies at Ohio State University. He has received the “Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education” from the Greater Dallas Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the Outstanding Educator Award from the Greater Dallas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce and the Technologist of the Year Award from the Texas Technology Magazine. He served as a founding member of the Technology Business Council of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. Since 1996, he has been serving as the Dean of the School of Management at Texas University- Dallas.

Prof. Mehmet Toner obtained his  Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University and his Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1989, he received his Ph.D. in Medical Engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He is presently a professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School and at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard-MIT. He also serves as Director of the MGH Bio-Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems Resource Center and as Director of the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Program at Harvard Medical School’s teaching hospitals. In addition, he is actively involved in the management of various biotechnology firms that he has founded.

Murat Özyeğin graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a double major in Industrial Management and Economics in 1998. In the same year, he started his career as a financial analyst in the New York office of the Merger and Acquisition Group of Bear Stearns & Co., a New York-based global investment bank. In 2000, he was transferred to the company’s London office as a senior analyst. He completed his MBA at Harvard Business School in 2003, and returned to Turkey to take an active role in the management of FIBA Group, founded by his father Hüsnü Özyeğin. He established the Strategic Planning and Business Development divisions at Finansbank (owned by FIBA Group until 2005) and FIBA Holding. Before assuming the role of Chairman of FIBA Group in 2019, Murat Özyeğin served as a member of the Board of Directors of Fiba Holding and Fina Holding between 2003-2019. He also serves as Vice Chairman of Credit Europe Bank, the group’s largest subsidiary in finance, and as Chairman of all non-financial subsidiaries. In addition to his responsibilities at FIBA Group companies, Murat Özyeğin also serves as Vice President of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TÜSİAD), President of DEIK/Turkey-The Netherlands Business Council, Vice President of Energy Efficiency Association, Honorary Consul of Singapore, Trustee of Özyeğin University, Trustee of Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation, member of Harvard University Global Advisory Board, member of Endeavor Board of Directors, Trustee of WWF Turkey and member of Global Relations Forum.

Ayla Göksel obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Bath. She received her Master's Degree in Development Economics from the London School of Economics. She completed her thesis on partnerships among sectors at the John Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies with an international research scholarship and conducted studies at the Hauser Center of Harvard University as a guest researcher. She began to work with the foundation of ACEV (Mother and Child Education Foundation) in 1993. She currently serves as Vice Chairman of ACEV. She is also Managing Director of Husnu M. Özyeğin Foundation,   Executive Board Member of the TOHUM Foundation, and   Executive Board Member of the Education Reform Initiative. She was selected a “Young Global Leader” and a “Senior Fellow” by the World Economic Forum and Synergos Institute in 2008 and in 2009, respectively.

Akpınar started his professional career as the co-founder of Penta Textile in 1986. In 1993, he took up the CEO position at KVK. Akpınar, later, went on to serve as CEO for MV Holding, and played an active role in the establishment of Fintur Holding BV. Muzaffer Akpınar held the CEO position at Turkcell from January 1, 2002 through July 2006. Currently, Muzaffer Akpınar is the Vice Chairman of the Executive Board at MV Holding, Member of the Executive Board at THY, Chairman of the Executive Board at KVK, Chairman of the Executive Board at Dost Energy, and Chairman of the Executive Board at Portmobil.  Akpınar was born in 1962. He graduated from Saint Michel French High School and obtained his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Boğaziçi University.

Hasan Arat was born in Adana in 1959. He graduated from the School of Business at Istanbul University. He held managerial positions in textile and real-estate companies for many years. He is a member of the Executive Board at FINA Holding, a FIBA group company, and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at Beymen Inc. To date, Arat has served as President of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (TGSD), President of the International Apparel Federation (IAF), and Vice President for the UN World Tourism Organization Business Council.

Currently, Arat serves as Vice President of the Turkish Olympic Committee (TMOK), IOC Marketing Commission Member, a member of the Executive Board at European Olympic Committee (EOC), and a member of the Executive Board at World Athletics.

Dr. Gülay Barbarosoğlu received her Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at Boğaziçi University in 1978 and Ph.D. from the same department in 1985. She worked as an Instructor, an Assistant Professor and an Associate Professor in Boğaziçi University between 1985 and 2000. In 2000, She was appointed as a Professor and She served as Industrial Engineering Department Head between 2000 and 2002 and between 2006 and 2007. From 2002 to 2006, She acted as the Head of the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Boğaziçi University. She served as a Vice Rector at Boğaziçi University between 2008 and 2012, and as Boğaziçi University Rector between 2012 and 2016. She served as Country Representator at NATO-RTO between 2001 and 2010, Vice- Chair at EURO between 2003 and 2006, and Board Member at EUA between 2013 and 2017. She is a founding member of EURO Hierarchical Organizational Planning EWG and serves as member of Member of INFORMS The Institute of Management Sciences and of APICS American Production and Inventory Control Society. She currently works as Headmaster at the Hisar Educational Foundation.

Barış Tan received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Boğaziçi University. He earned his M.E. degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering, M.S.E. Graduate Certificate in Manufacturing Systems, and Ph.D. in Operations Research at the University of Florida. From 1994 to 2024, he served as a professor of Business Administration and Industrial Engineering, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics, and Director of the Graduate School of Business at Koç University. On March 1, 2024, he joined Özyeğin University as a professor of Industrial Engineering and Business Administration. He was appointed as President on July 26, 2024. His areas of expertise include the design and control of production systems, supply chain management, and stochastic modelling. Prof. Tan has numerous publications and projects in these fields. Barış Tan is the recipient of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Distinguished Young Scholar Award, the TUBITAK fellowship, the NATO Science Fellowship, as well as best paper awards for his publications. Prof. Tan has served as a visiting faculty member at Harvard MIT, University of Cambridge, University College London, and Politecnico di Milano. He continues to contribute to advisory and management boards of various universities and institutions around the world.