1. I grew up in Ankara, Turkey as the middle son in a family of three brothers.  My parents were strict (as most parents at the time) but loving and supportive people. It took me several decades to appreciate their wisdom in unconditionally supporting and encouraging us to seek and pursue our own paths in life without any judgment. 

2. One of the highlights of my early childhood was the hard to describe circumstances that placed me in a close range (within 15 feet, to be specific) of some of the world leaders. This list features Charles de Gaulle, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne, and Shah Reza Pahlavi.  Even though I am unable to produce any hard evidence of my close encounters with these distinguished individuals, I can assure you that my mother would back up my claims.

3. Another memorable highlight of my young adulthood was the many summers that we spent at a sleepy town called Didyma on the Aegean coast. The general area had been inhabited by one civilization after another for several millennia, each one leaving its own mark on the land, its people, and the culture.  I have a deep affection for the people, aroma, smells, and the colors of the Aegean and the Mediterranean. 

4. As a child, and as an adult too, I greatly enjoyed occasional visits to the open air museum at the central train station in my hometown Ankara and was awed by old steam locomotives on display with huge “American Locomotive Corporation (Alco), built in Schenectady, NY” logos on them. At the time, it did not even cross mind that I was destined to become a Schenectadian in a few years.

5. I went to college as a very undecided and under-committed management science major and switched subjects a couple of times. Even though this undecidedness delayed my graduation, at the end it paid off dearly. During my senior year, I took a course on applied statistics. Something clicked. I found the whole idea of using data to help solve real-life problems fascinating. The course was taught by a professor who had recently received his doctorate at Union College in Schenectady. I decided to follow the lead of my professor and apply to Union College for graduate study. I was also offered a graduate scholarship at the Kyoto University in Japan but I wanted to see more of those locomotives so the choice was easy!

6. In my first year at Union, I stayed with a wonderful retired couple who lived and had raised ten children in a large mansion-like house near the campus (“the GE plot”). As their children grew up and left home, the couple leased some of the vacant rooms to students.  The welcoming, friendly and often crowded environment was ideal to acclimate to my new surroundings and practice English. One of my huge disappointments was to discover that the Alco site had turned in to an industrial wasteland (today the area is inhabited by the Rivers Casino).

7. During my first year as a graduate assistant, I was appointed to serve as the “coffee boy” of the department; a duty that I carried out diligently since my stipend depended on my performance. I was held responsible for providing coffee and sufficient supply of Freihofer cookies for the weekly colloquium attendees. The best part of the job was that I got to keep the leftover cookies. I must admit at times I might have gone overboard in the amount of cookies I ordered but the administration patiently tolerated my indulgence.

8. In my last year as a graduate student, I started an internship with GE which eventually led to a full-time employment and a US citizenship! My original plan to “gain some GE experience before I find a teaching job” turned into a 25 year long engagement. During that time, I had the great fortune of working with some very bright individuals on all sorts of interesting, and sometimes unusual, problems. The list of unusual includes questions such as “how to prevent growth of barnacles on ship hulls” and “do cease-and desist letters convince Internet users to stop illegally sharing copyrighted content.” The job offered the opportunity to travel extensively (and sometimes excessively) all over the US and the globe. It is interesting to think that much of that travel would be totally unnecessary today with the modern online collaboration tools.

9. After I put off my original plans to become an academic for so long, in 2016 I was presented with a coincidental opportunity to embark on a brand new career as a Siena faculty. Fortunately, my wife wholeheartedly supported my decision and I accepted the offer in a heartbeat. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in life, following my choice of spouse.  And, yes, academia turned out be different from the business world in many ways. To me, the most striking difference is the total flexibility that I am afforded to manage my own time and define my own deadlines – a privilege that I’ve learned to handle with great care.

10. My wife Reyhan and our two teenage sons live in Glenville. The pandemic brought us even closer as a family. The topics and activities that dominate our everyday lives include searching new recipes to try in our wood-fired pizza oven, turning part of our backyard into a proper soccer (as in “futbol”) field, and planning future travels and adventures.