Ilker Baybars: ‘Over 32 years of service to Carnegie Mello’
Deputy dean of the Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, Ilker Baybars, has been named the dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ).
Baybars will begin new stint from August, Mark S Kamlet, university provost and executive vice president, said yesterday.
Baybars, who is also the George Leland Bach chair and operations management professor, will take over from G Richard Tucker, who has been serving since August 2010. He will be Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s second dean, following Charles E ‘Chuck’ Thorpe, who served through 2004-10.
“With more than 32 years of service to Carnegie Mellon and our university community, Baybars is one of the longest-serving and most valued academic leaders of the institution. His experience and successes in teaching, research and academic initiatives will be a great benefit to our campus in Qatar,” Kamlet said.
Speaking about his appointment, Baybars said: “I regard this as a wonderful opportunity for me to work more closely with stakeholders in the region in assuring the continued success of Carnegie Mellon University in Education City. This assignment truly aligns my personal interests and professional experience, and I look forward to meeting the challenges ahead.”
A native of Turkey, Baybars received his bachelor’s degree from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey in 1969.
After spending a year at METU as an instructor, Baybars studied at Carnegie Mellon, where he earned master’s (1972) and PhD (1979) degrees.
He joined the university faculty in 1978.
Baybars’ primary teaching and research have been in the fields of quantitative methods, operations research and production management.
“In addition to his work on Carnegie Mellon’s main campus, Baybars’ dedication to international work provides an excellent foundation on which we can continue the university’s success abroad,” Kamlet said, adding: “He has been actively engaged with the Carnegie Mellon in Qatar since its inception in 2004, and his insight into the students, faculty and business needs within the region uniquely underscore the ideal fit associated with this appointment.”
“Baybars has already played a pivotal role in making Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar an important addition to our national infrastructure through the renowned quality of its teaching and its engagement with Qatari society, and I am very pleased to welcome him to his new position,” Qatar Foundation vice president (education) Dr Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani said.
He added that Baybars’ appointment come at an exciting point in the development of Education City as “we step up our research activities, introduce further graduate programmes, and benefit from increasing synergies and efficiencies among our partner institutions. I look forward to his contribution in all of these areas.”
Baybars has served as a member of Carnegie Mellon in Qatar’s joint advisory board, which is comprised of representatives from Carnegie Mellon and Qatar Foundation.
Additionally, he is a member of the board of trustees of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, as well as vice president and board member of the Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for “Tomorrow in Tokyo”.
He has served as a consultant to the United Nations and various public and private organisations in Turkey and Asia.
During his tenure at Carnegie Mellon, Baybars has served as acting president of the Carnegie Bosch Institute for Applied International Studies and as head of the business school’s undergraduate business programme.
He became associate dean in 1985 and deputy dean of the Tepper School in 1992.
In 1997, he received the outstanding achievement award for leadership from the business school.
In 1981, he became the first recipient of the Emil Limbach Teaching Award for Excellence in the Classroom from the School of Urban and Public Affairs, now the Heinz College.
Baybars also was the architect and founder of the business school’s FlexTime (part-time) and FlexMode (distance learning) MBA programmes and served as head of MBA programmes from 1984 to 1997.