Nihat Berker

Ahmet Nihat Berker (born 20 September 1949 in Istanbul), is a Turkish scientist, theoretical chemist, physicist and emeritus professor of physics at MIT. Currently, he is the acting Dean of Engineering and Natural Sciences in Kadir Has University, Turkey. He is the son of a notable scientist and engineer Ratip Berker, who was deceased on 17 October 1997. His wife, Bedia Erim Berker[4] is a professor of chemistry at Istanbul Technical University, and one of his sons, Selim Berker is a professor of epistemology in the department of philosophy at Harvard University and his other son, Ratip Emin Berker is currently a sophomore at Harvard.[5][6] [7]

Ahmet Nihat Berker[1]
Born (1949-09-20) 20 September 1949
İstanbul, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
CitizenshipTurkey, United States
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forRenormalization group, Critical phenomena, Phase Transitions
Spouse(s)Bedia Erim Berker
ChildrenSelim Berker, Ratip Emin Berker
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsApplied and Soft matter physics, Statistical mechanics and Condensed matter physics
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Harvard University[2]
Technical University of Istanbul
Sabancı University
Kadir Has University
ThesisPhase Transitions and Critical Phenomena: Universality and Global Multicritical Phase Diagrams from Position-Space Renormalization-Group Studies[3]
Notable studentsMehran Kardar

Academic life

After graduating from Robert College at first place in 1967, Nihat Berker received B.S. degrees in physics and chemistry from MIT in 1971. He received his M.S. and PhD degrees in physics from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1972 and 1977, respectively. During 1977–79, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of physics at Harvard University.[2] He was an assistant professor during 1979–82, associate professor during 1982–1988, and professor of theoretical physics during 1988–04 at MIT. From 1999 to 2004, he served as a professor and dean of the School of Sciences and Letters at The Istanbul Technical University. After losing the president (rector) elections in İTÜ,[8] he left the Technical University of Istanbul for a professor position at Koç University. He became emeritus professor of Physics at MIT in 2004. He was an adjunct professor of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi in Bebek, İstanbul between 1996 and 2004, as well. During 2005–2009, he served as a professor of physics at Koç University, Rumelifeneri, Sarıyer, Istanbul. From 2009 until his resignation on 11 September 2016,[9] he was the president of Sabancı University in Tuzla, Istanbul. Currently, he is the acting dean of the faculty of engineering and natural sciences at Kadir Has University.[2]

Research areas

Nihat Berker is best known for his research in statistical mechanics, especially on phase transitions applying renormalization group theory, with applications to surface physics and materials with defects.

References
  1. Ahmet Nihat Berker was elected to The American Physical Society Fellow in 1988 for the development of the position space renormalization group technique and its application to studies of phase transitions in physisorbed systems and liquid crystals.
  2. Prof. A. Nihat Berker
  3. Nihat Berker at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. Bedia Erim Berker, Technical University of Istanbul,
  5. Selim Berker, ethics and epistemology professor.
  6. Selim Berker Archived 19 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University.
  7. "Prof. A. Nihat Berker, Kadir Has University | Professor of Physics, Emeritus".
  8. "İTÜ elections".
  9. "Sabancı Üniversitesi Rektörü Nihat Berker istifa etti" [Nihat Berker resigns as the president of Sabancı University] (in Turkish). Sözcü Gazetesi. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
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