Systems, Man & Cybernetics - January 2017 - 38

Kaynak speaks with a group of students.

Kaynak and his wife, Pervin.

In my volunteering work she is always around, backing me up. So most
of my friends know her. We are proud
of our daughter Ece, who is working
toward her Ph.D. degree at Stanford
in the engineering school. She is in
the Organizations, Technology and
Entrepreneurship program, a very
meaningful one for the age we are
living in. Who knows-she may perhaps follow my footsteps as a volunteer in the SMCS!
SMC Magazine: Can you give us
some biographical highlights?
Kaynak: Very briefly, I received
my bachelor's (first class, I am proud
to add) and doctoral degrees in electronic and electrical engineering from

the University of Birmingham, United
Kingdom, in 1969 and 1972, respectively. At that time, at the age of 24, I
was the youngest doctor in my country. I tell my students that I am an
"accidental professor" because I was
sent to the United Kingdom by a Turkish state enterprise and was expected
to come back with a master's degree.
However, the thesis I submitted for
the master's degree was turned down
by my professor because it was "too
good," and I earned a Ph.D. degree one
year later. The extra year that I had to
spend in Birmingham was very interesting for me because with no scholarship (the Turkish company refused
to support me for an extra year), I had
to work as a waiter in an Italian res-

IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE Janu ar y 2017

taurant, where I served drinks and
wine and prepared dishes tableside. A
very interesting social experience to
top my Ph.D.!
I returned to Turkey in 1972 and
held various positions within the
industry until 1979, including three
and a half years in Saudi Arabia
working as a project engineer. I
then joined the department of electrical and electronics engineering
at Bogˇaziçi University in Istanbul,
Turkey. I have served as the chairman of the computer engineering
and the electrical and electronic
engineering departments and as
the director of the Biomedical Engineering Institute at this university. Since then I have traveled a
lot, holding long-term (near to or
more than a year) visiting professor/scholar positions at various institutions in Japan, Germany, the
United States, Singapore, and most
recently with the prestigious "1000
People" program professorship at
the Harbin Institute of Technology.
Among the awards that I have received, the one I cherish most is the
one that I received a month ago: the
China Friendship Award. It is the
People's Republic of China's highest award for "foreign experts who
have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and
social progress."
SMC Magazine: What is the most
coveted reward that you seek?
Kaynak: Would self-esteem be
considered a coveted reward? If it
is an award (coveted or not), who
gives it-is it given or gained? Anyway, self-respect is something that
I would not like to lose. Health and
happiness are the rewards that I
would like to receive if someone is
giving them out!
SMC Magazine: What keeps you up
at night worrying?
Kaynak: I keep on saying to myself
that worrying is no good at my age;
nevertheless, I end up worrying about
my worrying character!

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Systems, Man & Cybernetics - January 2017