Namık Kemal Pak (194710 November 2015) was a Turkish academic who worked in

nuclear science Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

. He served as a professor at the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

(METU) and president of the

Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey (, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies, support and conduct research and development, and to ...

(TÜBİTAK) 1999 to 2003. He was also one of the first members of the

Turkish Academy of Sciences The Turkish Academy of Sciences ( – TÜBA) is an autonomous scholarly association aimed at promoting scientific activities in Turkey. Although it is attached to the office of the Presidency and is largely funded by the government, it maintains f ...

(TÜBA).

Early life and education

Namık Kemal Pak was born in 1947 in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, Turkey. He enrolled for his undergraduate program at

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

, graduating from the Physics Department in 1968. He continued his education and moved to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he obtained his PhD. in physics in 1972.

Career

Following his doctoral studies, he engaged in various research roles at several institutions, including the

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established in 1931 by the University of California (UC), the laboratory is spo ...

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, Ca ...

, the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, the

European Organization for Nuclear Research European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

(CERN), and the International Center for Theoretical Physics in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Italy. His research focused on nuclear physics. In 1977, he became an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021. The university has two main c ...

and later obtained the title of full professor at

(METU) in 1988. Pak was actively engaged in scientific research and policy in Turkey. He served as the vice president of

TÜBİTAK The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey (, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies, support and conduct research and development, and to ...

from 1990 to 1997, where he contributed to national research initiatives and fostering scientific collaboration. He served as the NATO Science Committee Representative for Turkey from 1988 to 1989 and later as the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

Science and Technology Policy Committee Representative for Turkey from 1991 to 1997. He was also the Alternative Representative for Turkey on the

NATO Science Committee Science for Peace and Security (SPS) is a NATO programme supporting non-military cooperation focused on scientific research, technological innovation and knowledge exchange. The SPS Programme in its current form was established in 2006, building on ...

from 1993 to 1997. Pak was associated with the

European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes science in Europe. It was e ...

(ESF), where he was a member of the Standing Committee for Physical and Engineering Science between 1995 and 1997, and a member of both the Governing Council and Executive Council of the ESF from 1993 to 2003. He participated in the EUREKA High Level Group (HLG) from 1999 to 2003 and was a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's e-Europe Programme High Level Joint Commission from 2001 to 2002. In 2003, he was engaged in both the European Union INTAS Programme General Assembly and the European Union's

Joint Research Centre The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to European Union (EU) policy. Leadersh ...

(JRC) Programme Management Board.

Awards and recognition

Pak received an early career TÜBİTAK Incentive Award in 1979 and one of the five to receive an TÜBİTAK Science Award in 1989. He was a member of the

Third World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 100 countries. Its principal aim is t ...

(TWAS) and

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1947 births 2015 deaths People from Samsun Academic staff of Middle East Technical University Members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Europaea Academic staff of Hacettepe University Recipients of TÜBİTAK Science Award

Early life and education

Career

Awards and recognition

References

Further reading

External links