“Grand Prize” to Our Retired Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Zekai Şen

At the 2021 Science Dissemination Awards, attended by many names from the academia, science, art, business world and politics circles, our retired faculty member Prof. Dr. Zekai Şen was deemed worthy of the “Grand Prize”.

The 2021 Science Dissemination Awards, organized by the Science Dissemination Foundation and the Science Dissemination Society, found their owners. Names from the academia, science, art, business world and politics circles met at the Dolmabahçe Palace on the Science Dissemination Awards night. The second of the Science Dissemination Awards, which are given every two years, was held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. At the ceremony, the winner of the "Grand Prize" Prof. Dr. Zekai Şen received his award from President Erdoğan.

Also at the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Soylak received the award in the "Engineering, Natural and Health Sciences" category, while Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hümeyra Özturan won the award in “Social Sciences” category.

About Prof. Dr. Zekai Şen

He was born in 1947 in Kastamonu. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 1971. He received the “Diploma of Imperial College” and “Master of Science” degrees in hydrology in 1972 from England, where he went with a TUBITAK NATO scholarship. In 1974, he received his Ph.D. on “stochastic modeling and hydrology applications” from University of London and returned to Turkey. Between 1975-1982 he worked at ITU Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering. Between 1982-1992 he worked as the chair and faculty member of the Faculty of Earth Sciences Hydrogeology Department at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. He was appointed associate professor in 1979 and full professor in 1984. Between 1992-2005 he served as chairman and faculty member in ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of Meteorological Engineering; in 2005, he started to conduct studies at ITU Faculty of Civil Engineering Hydraulics Department. In 1978, he received TÜBİTAK Encouragement Award and in 1993 TÜBİTAK Science Award. He was among the world’s 500 science pioneers determined by American Biography Institute. He represented Turkey in UNESCO Climate Change Panel until 2008 and his team was granted the Nobel Prize. He was given the Nobel Prize certificate for the same topic. He is currently the president of the Water Foundation.