Ayşe Soysal facts for kids

Ayşe Soysal, born on June 24, 1948, is a well-known Turkish mathematician. She was the president of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul from 2004 to 2008. She was the first woman to lead this important university.

Her Life and Career

Ayşe Soysal was born in 1948. She finished high school in 1967 at the American College for Girls in Istanbul. In 1971, she earned two degrees with top grades in Mathematics and Physics from Boğaziçi University (which used to be called Robert College).

Soysal continued her studies in the United States. She earned her master's degree in math in 1973. Then, she got her PhD in math in 1976 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Teaching and Research

In 1976, Ayşe Soysal started teaching math at Boğaziçi University as an assistant professor. She was known as a kind and helpful teacher to her students. She became an associate professor in 1981 and a full professor in 1991.

Since 2009, Professor Soysal has been teaching at Koç University's Department of Mathematics. She has taught many different math subjects, including group theory, linear algebra, matrix theory, and probability theory.

Leadership Roles

Besides teaching, Ayşe Soysal held many important leadership jobs at Boğaziçi University. She was the vice dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. She also led the Department of Mathematics as its chairman.

From 1992 to 2004, Soysal was chosen as the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences four times in a row. She also represented Boğaziçi University in the Interuniversity Council. She was also a board member for the Turkey branch of UNESCO.

Between 2008 and 2012, she was a member of the Scientific Board of TÜBİTAK. This is a big science and technology research council in Turkey. She also served on the Executive Board of the TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center. From 2009 to 2013, she was part of the General Assembly of the Council of Higher Education (Turkey).

In 2004, Ayşe Soysal was chosen to be the president of Boğaziçi University. She was the first woman to ever hold this position. She served as president until August 2008. She retired from her professor role at Boğaziçi University at the end of 2014.

Later, she continued her academic work as a part-time professor at Istanbul Şehir University.