Artist Pelin Toğrul RC 01 Presented a Solo Exhibition: Doğa, Doku, Dokunuş (Nature, Texture, Touch)

Pelin Toğrul ‘s solo exhibition Doğa, Doku, Dokunuş (Nature, Texture, Touch) took place between February 28 to March 22, 2026 at ArtisArt Gallery.

Built through the interplay of acrylic and decorative plaster, the works foreground texture as both medium and message. Surfaces are not simply seen but imagined as felt—drawing attention to the depth beneath what first appears flat. In this sense, the exhibition becomes a study of perception: how we engage with art not only through sight, but through memory, sensation, and instinct.

At the heart of the show lies a dialogue between nature and human intervention. Contrasts such as rough and smooth, rigid and soft echo the rhythms found in the natural world, while the artist’s hand introduces intention, control, and interpretation. Through this tension, Toğrul constructs a visual language that bridges organic processes with crafted form.

Material exploration plays a central role. Alongside acrylic and plaster, textile elements and occasional natural components are incorporated into the works, reflecting a layered and, at times, sustainable approach to production. These choices reinforce the exhibition’s emphasis on depth—both physical and conceptual—where each layer contributes to a cumulative sensory experience.

Ultimately, Doğa, Doku, Dokunuş positions texture as a conduit between the external world and internal perception. It reflects on how humans absorb inspiration from nature and transform it through touch, creating new forms of expression that are at once grounded and interpretive.

Bridging Voices Across Cultures: Canan Özgür RC 06 in Córdoba

Canan Özgür, an award-winning opera singer and Associate Professor at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University, will take part in an Erasmus+ teaching mobility in Spain, bringing Turkish vocal repertoire to an international academic setting.

Hosted by Conservatorio Superior de Música Rafael Orozco, the program will take place between April 21–23, 2026, in Córdoba, as part of the Erasmus+ collaboration between the conservatory and Ankara Music and Fine Arts University. Within this framework, Özgür will work with voice students in the Andalusia region, focusing on interpretation and performance.

At the heart of this exchange is a repertoire that carries cultural depth and musical nuance. Introducing works by prominent Turkish composers such as Muammer Sun and Turgay Erdener, Özgür’s teaching aims to create a dialogue between traditions—allowing Spanish students to engage with the tonal language, phrasing, and emotional landscape of Turkish vocal music.

By carrying songs across borders, Özgür contributes to a growing space where music becomes a common language—one that transcends geography while remaining deeply rooted in its origins. Through this residency, Turkish compositions will find new voices in Córdoba, shaped by a different cultural context yet connected through the universality of sound and interpretation.

A Reflective Debut: Ters Ayna by RC Alumna Burcu Arkut Acun RC 04

Burcu Arkut Acun debuted her first book, Ters Ayna (Reverse Mirror, Ayrıkotu Yayınları), a contemplative work that brings together her background in architecture and design with inner awareness and personal reflection. Ters Ayna emerges from an ongoing exploration of the relationship one builds with oneself—and how that relationship quietly shapes the way the world is experienced.

Rather than offering direct answers, the book unfolds as a series of reflections that invite the reader inward. It lingers on questions of visibility and perception—what it means to be seen versus to be visible—while gently probing ideas of waiting and deserving, and whether belonging is tied to a place or a state of being. Through the recurring metaphor of the mirror, each chapter creates space for the reader to encounter their own inner voice.

Written in a calm yet unfiltered tone, Ters Ayna encourages a slower pace: to pause, to notice, and to remember. It shifts the focus from fixing to recognizing, from becoming someone else to returning to oneself. In doing so, it offers a quiet but resonant invitation—suggesting that much of what is sought externally may already exist within.

Yasemin Sırali RC 97 Recognized For Her Sustainability Leadership by Fast Company

Fiba Group Sustainability Director Yasemin Sırali was recognized by Fast Company in March 2026 as one of the sustainability leaders creating a significant impact in Türkiye. This recognition follows an assessment of the Turkish sustainability landscape by a sizable jury composed of academics, global experts, and business leaders.

Sırali stated that the recognition brought her tremendous joy: “It reflects Fiba Group leadership’s commitment to continuous progress in our environmental and societal impact—and the exceptional team making it happen every day.”

Öncel Özgül RC 21, Fikri Şan Köktaş RC 21, Emre Kaplaner RC 21 Co-Found Patientdesk

Sharing the same dorm room for five years, three friends discovered their entrepreneurial spirit at RC and founded a marketing agency together. This unique bond of living and working together created a solid foundation of trust. It was only natural that they translated this experience into an actual business, Patientdesk.

“The idea for Patientdesk was born out of a real-world friction we experienced. Our initial marketing agency evolved into a specialized dental marketing firm. We realized that while we were successfully generating leads for dental practices, the clinics weren’t calling them back, leading to zero conversions. To solve this, we built AI Receptionists to call our own leads. Upon expanding to the US market, we identified an even bigger bottleneck: insurance verification. This led us to pivot and develop our AI Insurance Coordinator product to automate this complex administrative burden.”

Soon their budding business caught the interest of investors, through the powers of networking and performance: “A close friend who was interning at E2VC was impressed by our team’s execution and introduced us to the fund’s General Partner, who decided to invest. Shortly after, we reached a major milestone: Y Combinator accepted us into the Winter 2026 batch. Being part of YC was a game-changer; it validated our vision on a global scale and made the rest of our fundraising round significantly smoother.”

The trio has advice for RC students with the entrepreneurial spirit: “Persistence is key. We spent an entire year stuck at $1k MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), which was a very difficult and demotivating period. However, we didn’t give up. The most important trait is the ability to “stick to it.” Success often lies just beyond the point where most people decide to quit.”

The trio was quite excited to learn about the RC Entrepreneurs Bond,  which is led by Hüseyin Tığlı RA 71 to foster a growing community of RC entrepreneurial minds committed to impact by giving back not only financially, but also through their time, network, creativity and passion:  “Given our journey from the RC dorms to Y Combinator and the US tech scene, we would love to join the community, share our experiences with AI, and contribute to the growth of fellow RC innovators.”

Global Thought Leader Saniye Gülser Canıvar – Corat RC 74 Awarded the Galatasaray Prize

“RC is where I discovered the urge to become an agent of positive change.”

Gülser Corat has led many careers in her life, trailblazing in the field of gender equality. After graduating from RC and Boğaziçi University, she pursued graduate work at the College of Europe and Carleton University, later attending executive programs at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. As the CEO of ECI Consulting, she led numerous development projects across the globe. From 2004 to 2020, she served as the Director of Gender Equality at UNESCO. In 2020, she was cited as one of the most influential technology leaders by Women in Tech and is the founder of the No Bias AI?  Platform.

For her remarkable work, she was recently honored with the Galatasaray Award, recognized as a transformative force in society who espouses universal values for the greater good. RCQ had the opportunity to catch up with Corat shortly after this prestigious recognition.

What path led you to your role in UNESCO?

It was a highly circuitous trajectory. I started with the goal of becoming an academic, teaching and researching. However, while writing my Ph.D. dissertation on agribusiness in Cameroon, I found myself working as a development consultant across three continents for bilateral and multilateral institutions, eventually covering 65 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

My work focused on diverse issue areas, including agriculture, water management, capacity development, and governance, all infused with a gender equality and women’s empowerment perspective. This eclectic mixture of academia and field experience was the reason UNESCO hired me out of 2,000 applicants for the position of Director for Gender Equality.

Why do you think the intersection of ethics and technology is so critical today?

Technology has always been affected by its dual-use potential. Nobel’s dynamite was invented to make road-building easier; instead, it was primarily used to blow people up. Nuclear technology was supposed to help treat cancer with radiation, but it ended up fueling the infamous “I am become death” weapon of mass destruction.

Artificial Intelligence is another example. It was supposed to assist human beings in their various activities; instead, it is now poised to take over their jobs. The irony is that it is not very good at many of these tasks because it is being trained on data we produce, which reflects our biases and prejudices. Also, the code Claude produces looks good on paper until you realize that debugging takes much longer, and maintaining it is next to impossible. And if you ask ChatGPT the same question changing one or two words, you will get a completely different answer.

What we need is a clear understanding of what this technology entails, and regulate it to turn it into assistants for humans rather than aspiring masters hurtling towards AGI. However, looking back at the history of technology, I am not very optimistic. Moreover, the so-called Magnificent Seven tech companies are so powerful that it is unlikely that we will succeed in reining them in. So, we have a flawed and disruptive technology pushed by really powerful forces—the definition of a rock and a hard place.

How do you remember RC? How did it contribute to your life’s journey?

Recently, I had an epiphany: I realized that I was happiest at school, and while this observation encompasses my years at Boğaziçi, later in Bruges, and in Canada, the obvious starting point was RC. It was also the most formative institution, giving me the foundation for who I am today.

It was an idyllic setting. And, especially before the boys joined us in 1971 (I started in ACG in 1969), it felt like a finishing school for special kids. Not that we claimed to be special, the school made us feel that way. I was also lucky to be surrounded by a group of people who remained lifelong friends. It was gratifying to have people with whom you could share this extraordinary experience. RC brought to the surface my latent intellectual curiosity and my manifest desire to keep learning. Tellingly, I am in my fourth career at an age when most people have long retired. I credit RC with starting what has subsequently become, what I call, my “cultural fluency”, or the ability to understand people on their own terms. That’s where I learned to inhabit different languages and cultures instead of being lost in translation. Finally, it was also where I discovered the urge to become an agent of positive change, which became a defining trait.

An interesting part of your time at RC was that you received the Halide Edip Adıvar Award? How did that come about?

In those days, we had to choose between two streams in the last two years – Literature and Science, the first covering mostly social sciences and the latter STEM fields. While I was very good in physics and math, I opted for the former because I did not like chemistry and I was really interested in philosophy and literature. I was the top student in the Literature stream, and that is why I was given the award.

However, this is just the technical reason, as I believe the invisible hand of the universe was involved, as it has been all my life. You see, I was born in a house in Sultanahmet. When it was later burned down, they turned that space into a park. And, in the middle of it, they erected a statue of Halide Edip Adıvar.

Hasan Burak Demir RC 16 Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List

The serial enterpreneur has a generative AI company, Feraset

In November 2025, Forbes Türkiye recognized Hasan Burak Demir  as one of 30 high-achieving young leaders across various fields. Demir had previously sold his company Zerosum Games to global giant Zynga. He has since founded Feraset, a generative AI company that develops and publishes consumer apps designed to make advanced AI accessible to everyone. 

Demir views AI as “the electricity of this century.” “It will dramatically increase human productivity, unlock entirely new capabilities, and help solve some of today’s most complex problems,” Demir says. The idea of near-infinite intelligence enabling near-infinite possibilities is incredibly exciting.” He states that Feraset turns cutting-edge technology into intuitive products with best-in-class user experience, so anyone can benefit from AI without needing technical expertise.

Reflecting on his journey, Demir credits Robert College as a pivotal influence: “RC taught me to question rather than accept, to think from first principles, and to seek truth with curiosity and discipline. These values shaped guide the way I think, decide, and live in every area of my life today.”

Tuğçe Yosmaoğlu Tatari RC 04 Named Legal Director at Abdi İbrahim Pharmaceuticals

This is Tatari’s first role on the client side.

In May 2025, Tuğçe Yosmaoğlu Tatari joined Abdi İbrahim Pharmaceuticals, after spending the majority of her career in private practice. Tatri states that curiosity had drawn her into the field in the first place: “Law felt like a place where you are allowed to question, analyze, and connect dots. Over time, I realized that law is not just about rules; it is about people, decisions, and responsibility.”

For the RC students aspiring to become lawyers, Tatari  underlines that there is rarely a clear “right” answer: “I constantly balance legal requirements, business needs and timelines, often at the same time. One needs to learn to trust her judgment; that takes time and experience, and it is something I am still working on every day.”

Tatari sees a direct link between her RC education and her professional approach : “High school taught me how to think, not what to think. The emphasis on expressing ideas clearly and defending your opinions respectfully shaped the way I approach problems today.” 

 

Winter Vibes at Bizim Tepe: Alumni Came Together to Celebrate the Season

The Robert College Alumni Association (RKMD) brought its community together once again with the much-anticipated “Winter Vibes Party,” which took place on Thursday, December 25 at Bizim Tepe.

As a warm and vibrant end-of-year gathering, the evening offered alumni the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet new faces from the community, and celebrate the spirit of the season.

Music set the tone for the night as DJ Burak Süsoy RC 90 took over the decks, creating an energetic atmosphere where guests danced, unwound, and welcomed the new year together.

RKMD continues to strengthen alumni bonds through events like Winter Vibes, creating spaces where shared memories meet new experiences. The evening stood as a reminder of the enduring connection within the Robert College community.

Looking ahead, the celebrations are set to continue—a “Spring Vibes Party” is already in the making, promising another opportunity for the community to come together in the months ahead.

A Growing Tradition of Thought and Dialogue at Bizim Tepe

On the evening of February 9, the Robert College Alumni Association (RKMD) welcomed guests to Bizim Tepe for a gathering that set the tone for an ambitious new intellectual tradition. In collaboration with the Tarih Vakfı (History Foundation), the Association hosted the inaugural event of the “Bizim Tepe Series,” bringing together alumni, scholars, and history enthusiasts for an evening where rigorous discussion met a strong sense of community.

At the heart of the night was Şevket Pamuk RA 68, whose talk on “Inflation and Politics in the Ottoman Empire” offered a rich, thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between economic forces and political power. Drawing on decades of research, Pamuk connected historical patterns with contemporary realities, reminding the audience that today’s economic debates are often rooted in long-standing structural dynamics.

Yet the evening was more than a lecture—it was the beginning of a platform. Conceived as a series of curated conversations, the Bizim Tepe Series aims to bridge academic insight with lived experience, creating a space where alumni can engage with critical ideas while reconnecting with one another. The initiative also carries a philanthropic dimension: proceeds from the evening were directed toward supporting the ongoing work of the Tarih Vakfı, reinforcing a shared commitment to advancing historical scholarship in Turkey.

Building on the success and momentum of this first gathering, the collaboration between the Robert College Alumni Association and the Tarih Vakfı is set to continue. On March 30, Bizim Tepe will once again host an evening dedicated to history and contemporary reflection—this time featuring Osman Cevdet Akçay RC 79.

In the second installment of the series, Akçay will lead a discussion on “The History of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB),” offering participants a deeper understanding of the institutional and economic evolution of one of the country’s most critical financial bodies. As with the first event, the evening will bring together intellectual inquiry, alumni engagement, and social impact, with proceeds continuing to support the Tarih Vakfı’s work.

Together, these gatherings signal more than a series of events—they mark the beginning of a sustained partnership. By creating a recurring forum for dialogue, the Robert College Alumni Association and the Tarih Vakfı are laying the groundwork for an enduring exchange of ideas, one that connects past and present while strengthening the bonds within the alumni community.

Set in the familiar warmth of Bizim Tepe, the Bizim Tepe Series is quickly becoming a space where history is not only discussed, but collectively experienced—through conversation, reflection, and a shared commitment to learning.