Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör has become the new rector of Üsküdar University. Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör was appointed as the rector of Üsküdar University according to the Official Gazette decision published on March 14, 2023. By the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, rectors were appointed to 12 universities. According to the published official decision, Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, Dean of the Faculty of Communication, was appointed to the Rectorate of Üsküdar University, which was founded in 2011 by Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan. Prof. Dr. Güngör, known for her books and articles guiding the field of communication, became Üsküdar University's first female rector. The Üsküdar University Rectorate Handover Ceremony was held at the Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall with the participation of academic and administrative staff. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka, whose term of office ended, handed over his position to the new Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör.
“In life, one must either be a learner, a teacher, or a supporter of them”
During the rectorate handover ceremony, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka, who has served as Acting Rector since 2019, spoke first. Expressing his thoughts and feelings about his academic years, Zelka discussed his journey into academia. Prof. Dr. Zelka said: “45 years ago, when we decided to embark on this academic life, a committee gathered to evaluate our decision and asked us. There were many attractive alternatives. They asked why we chose academic life when those alternatives were available. We replied that we believed we could provide better service in the institution where we were located, and that by being in this institution, we would contribute to the upbringing of individuals who would serve there. Of course, throughout this life journey, there is a piece of advice that, in a sense, enlightened us. This advice was: ‘In life, one must either be a learner, a teacher, or a supporter of them.’ Don’t be the fourth. We tried to follow this advice. We strived to learn. There is no end to it. We will continue as long as we live. I was first offered to wear the gown about sixteen years ago. It was my destiny to serve as rector in Üsküp between 2007 and 2010. The Balkans are places where each of us can find a part of ourselves. In that regard, we felt as if we were in our homeland again. I returned from there at the end of 2010. Towards the end of 2010, some friends visited us. When they offered to work together, we naturally considered it a duty. We started working at Üsküdar University at the beginning of 2011, even before the university was officially established. We are in March, 12 years have passed. Time passes very quickly. It was destiny.”
“The zakat of knowledge is paid by teaching it to those who do not know”
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka stated that the purpose of education and training for students should not be merely to obtain a diploma, emphasizing the strong spiritual dimension of the work done. Prof. Dr. Zelka said: “Your goal should not be to get a diploma and hang it on a wall. As emphasized in our culture, what is important is to be useful to people. Striving to be useful is to be active. When this is the case, when one contributes to the teaching process, this is one of the greatest responsibilities of scholars. That is, to teach knowledge. Because the zakat of knowledge is paid by teaching it to those who do not know. Otherwise, it is a burden. With an original analogy, let me share it because the example is original, with your permission: individuals who possess knowledge but do not transfer it to their surroundings, from which their surroundings do not benefit, are likened to a donkey laden with books. One must, of course, rid oneself of that and make efforts to be useful. I used to advise my students this. I would also give this advice to myself. Absolutely do not measure, evaluate, or belittle the value of your work with the few coins you receive. The value of the work done here is immense, beyond measure by material means, because the human being you address, whose upbringing you contribute to, is equivalent to the universe… If it could be measured, it is a being of great value. The service provided, the contribution made to this, should never, ever be measured by the few coins received. When this is the case, the heart is also involved.”
“If the heart is involved in the work, it is possible to achieve deeper and more beautiful results”
Emphasizing the involvement of emotional strength in every task, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka expressed his gratitude to Üsküdar University for its contributions to him. Prof. Dr. Zelka said: “People generally talk about muscle power and brain power. There is a third power of man that I have seen in other works, though almost never in economics books: this power is ‘heart power.’ If heart power is also involved in a task, it is in everything. If the heart is involved in every task, it is possible to achieve deeper and more beautiful results. During the performance of this duty, the presence of our esteemed Nevzat was an extraordinary convenience for us. It has been an extraordinary chance. I extend my gratitude for his contributions. My Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Furkan, and the members, their approach in this matter and their continuous follow-up, is a commendable behavior in every sense. I also thank them. I extend my separate gratitude to all our colleagues with whom we worked: our deans, directors, academic colleagues, and all administrative staff. During this period, they have made significant contributions to the performance of our duty. I thank each of you individually for your contributions and express my gratitude. Thank you, be well.”
Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör: “Our primary duty is to lead the world towards a much more humane world”
Starting her speech at the Rectorate Handover Ceremony by touching upon the difficult period our country is going through, Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör drew attention to the importance of producing and creating human-centered values. Prof. Dr. Güngör said: “We are in a beautiful university, with its system established, its university structure largely completed, and a university that is achieving a certain position in Turkey and even in the world. It is an honor for me to be worthy of service in such a valuable position in the future. Of course, humanity is going through difficult times; in fact, humanity is facing its own difficult test. Humanity is actually facing a challenging test of not producing as it should. Working and producing are the most important conditions of being human, and it is my most sacred value. Because it is production that makes a human being. We are born into a world; if we, as humans, cannot influence the life we are born into, if we do not try to change it, if we try to navigate within it by adapting and struggling, then that means we cannot be the subject of our own lives as individuals, as humans. Therefore, behind the economic crisis that humanity and the world are experiencing today lies the human failure to attribute human values to themselves and to effectively carry out production processes. If we are human, if we have come to this world, if we are born into this world, our primary duty is to lead that world towards a much more humane world. The primary way to do this is to work, to produce, to create value. There, creating value means both material and spiritual value production. When all are synthesized, human value is produced.”
“The most fundamental value of a university is science”
Defining the most fundamental value of a university as 'science', Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör drew attention to the production of human resources in ensuring institutional continuity. Güngör said: “As a university, under the leadership of our esteemed Nevzat, we are a university constantly encouraged to produce. Remember, in all meetings, our esteemed Nevzat talks about projects. The underlying reason for this is production. If a university is part of a structure, to strengthen that structure and for it to stand, it must generate its own resources. The most fundamental value of a university is science. It will produce its scientific resources, generate financial resources through scientific value, and by producing scientific value, it will remain academically present in the world and in Turkey, continuing its journey by growing stronger. One of the most important activities of a university is education and training. Education and training is an important service; the most valuable aspect is to contribute to human capital, to increase and strengthen human capital. This, too, passes through educational institutions. As a university, we must conduct education and training in the highest possible quality. One of the most important functions of a university is to produce its own human resources. If we cannot prepare our assistants and young academicians for the future under the roof of this university, then we will not have a strong, continuous structure moving forward. Therefore, for institutional continuity and the academic strengthening of the institution, those who are accomplished must exert effort for those who are developing, and those who are developing must do their best to reach their own levels and even beyond.”
“The university should serve the society and humanity it is part of”
Güngör stated that one of the university's important functions is 'to serve the society and humanity it is part of', noting that inward-looking campuses become corrupt and distant from societal problems. Güngör said: “Every value we create and produce at the university has social reflections. It must be transferred to society. Therefore, a university is a scientific institution, an educational institution, but also an institution that produces social value. Consequently, as has always been emphasized here and will continue to be emphasized, it is very important to prioritize university-community collaborations, to produce value for society, and for the knowledge produced here to be reflected in society. If you close campuses within themselves, they have no meaning. They will have meaning internally, but if there is no reflection, they will corrupt internally. Those inward-looking structures are doomed to shrink, contract, and implode over time. Therefore, we must absolutely open up to the outside, spread to society, touch the people, listen to their problems, and produce solutions and make contributions beyond the campus as well.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We make the work valuable because we imbue it with meaning.”
Speaking in the context of Üsküdar University's establishment phases, goals, and principles during the rectorate handover ceremony, Üsküdar University Founding Rector and Head of the Senior Management Board, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, highlighted that one of their biggest goals is to progress by adding meaning to high aspirations. Tarhan said: “Since the actual establishment of the university in 2011, we handed over the rectorate flag to my esteemed Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka in 2019. In 2023, Prof. Dr. Nazife is now taking over the flag. Since the establishment of the university, we have truly achieved a lot in a short time, getting better and faster results than I expected, in terms of both student quality, the competence of our lecturers, and our brand value in society; this needs to be developed and continued. What was important here was that our vision, mission, and quality standards were adhered to, that these were not just on paper but actually put into practice, and that there was teamwork. We have four principles: criticism, liberalism, pluralism, and participation. We used these principles as our core values and continue to use them. To those who ask, we say we are like the United Nations as a university, because universities have specific goals. The values we prioritize are competence, merit, diligence, and justice; progress can only be made with individuals who prioritize these four concepts and who value them as a management philosophy. We make this work valuable by imbuing it with meaning down to our capillaries; we succeed in surpassing ourselves. Humans have 24 most important golden values, one of which is transcendence, the ability to surpass oneself, that is, to progress by adding meaning to goals higher than oneself. We have defined this as our vision.”
“The most important product of a university is nurturing people”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan emphasized that the most important product of a university is nurturing people, stating that they have achieved good results in this regard. Prof. Dr. Tarhan said: “There is a global competition in the world that we can compete in; some things need to be foreseen in advance, there are global trends. If we foresee global trends in advance and are proactive, we can accomplish certain things. That's why, when the university was first established, we tried to found it within a specific philosophy, with establishment themes in behavioral sciences, engineering sciences, neurosciences, biological sciences, and social sciences. There is a rule in innovation. According to that rule, if a person has 100 hours, and dedicates 85 hours to that work, they should dedicate 15 hours to thinking about that work, dedicating thought to thought; if they do this, they will improve their work. We focused on this as our vision, and teamwork as our mission. The important product of a university is nurturing people, training good professionals. We have achieved good results in this regard. Subsequently, inclusiveness is very important. We cannot solve problems by dividing people into groups like this. We must form horizontal, not vertical, coalitions; therefore, Turkey needs this. As university management, we believe we can only make progress by talking, and we can solve problems by talking. Most problems stem from a lack of communication, so keeping communication alive is very important, and reflecting this down to our capillaries is very important. For this reason, I believe that our esteemed Nazife Güngör will continue the excellent services she provided in the Faculty of Communication here within these vision, mission, and quality standards, so I wish her good fortune, success, and prosperity.”
A plaque of appreciation was presented to Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka.
Following the speeches, Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan presented a plaque of appreciation to Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zelka, who served as Acting Rector since 2019.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan Draped the Rector's Gown on Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör…
In the final stage of the ceremony, Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan draped the rectorate gown on the new Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör. Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör's curriculum vitae was shared with the participants at the ceremony.
The Rectorate Handover Ceremony was attended by Üsküdar University Board of Trustees Chairman Furkan Tarhan, NPİSTANBUL Brain Hospital and Üsküdar University Board Member Fırat Tarhan, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy, Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak, Prof. Dr. Muhsin Konuk, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Prof. Dr. Osman Çerezci, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Prof. Haydar Sur, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry Prof. Dr. Yumuşhan Günay, Director of Health Services Vocational School, Director of the Institute of Natural Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan, Director of the Institute of Sufi Studies Prof. Dr. Elif Erhan, Rector's Advisors Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, Prof. Dr. Sırrı Akbaba, Prof. Dr. İsmail Barış, Prof. Dr. Şefik Dursun, Lecturers Serdar Karagöz and Emine Dönmez, along with Secretary General Selçuk Uysaler, Deputy Secretary Generals Ayşe Öztürk and Asil Barış Bağ.
In addition, numerous academicians, as well as all department heads and administrative staff of Üsküdar University, attended the ceremony.
The ceremony concluded after a group photo session.
Photo: Mukadder Güneş / ÜHA