PSU Magazine Spring 1995

\ \' . hen C hik Erzu rumlu retires in June after 13 years as dean of PSU 's School of Engineering and Applied Science, he won't be going fi shing. He' ll just be making time fo r mo re of the same kind of educational development he's done since he jo ined th e faculty in 1962. Erzu rumlu plans to continue his tireless campaign fo r engineering education by creat ing networks of supporter in higher education , industry, and the community at large, and by encourag– ing the education of potential engineers from overlooked populations. Erzu rumlu would be the first to deny that he's solely responsible fo r h is school' explosive growth ince he became dean , but during his tenure the chool has come into it own . Three– quarter of the engineering and applied science faculty have been added since 1982 . The School now has seven program : civil engineering, computer science, electri cal engineering, computer engineering, mechanica l engineering, engineering management, and manufac turing engineering. Five of the e programs grant doctorate . Welding such a diversified bunch of tudies into a cohesive unit has been Erzurumlu's life work. And like a good politician , he is consummately practica l in achiev ing his goals. A nati ve of l tanbul , Turkey, he i a member of the generation ofTurk who received the full impact of Kemal A taturk's westernization of that countJy, a proce s which included European -style education and conversion of the T urki h language into the Latin alphabet, all of which made it easier to integrate into Western culture. Erzu rumlu fe ll in love with engineer– ing as a even th -grade tudent when he got a part-time job running blueprint around town ~ r an l tan bul engineering firm. Chan~ PHOTO BY JERRY HART A tribute dinner honoring Dean Chik Erzurumlu upon his retirement is planned for June 1, 6 p.m., at the Multnomah Athletic Club. Proceeds will go towards the H.C.M. Erzurumlu Engineering cholarship. For more information, contact Traci Meyer-Jones, P U Office of Development, 725-5067. "l was very good in math and science, and when l was in an environment where I saw all these engineers, I found a role model without anyon directly mentoring me," he says. Erzurumlu went on to earn a profes ional degree in civil engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul and a ma ter's and doctorate from the Uni ver ity of Texas. When Erzurumlu joined the P U faculty as an instructor, he wasn't sure he wanted to work in industry o r in academia. His mind wa soon made up by the opportunity he saw in Portland . "There was a vacuum in engineering education," he remembers. "There were a lot of people, student and professionals, determined to establish engineering education in Portland. That wa an exciting pro pect because it wa an opportun ity to build something that people el ewhere took for granted." During Chile Erzurumlu's tenure, the School of Engineering has come into its own. By Valerie Brown As founding dean , ErzurumlL( had the cope to create omething almo t from scratch. "We have alway considered all challenge as opportunities," he says. "We have partnerships that have given us the ability to convince everyone that engineering education is a very important element in the economic development of Oregon and the region." Erzurumlu points proudly to the expansion of sponsored re earch, which has risen from around 200,000 per year in 19 2 to $2 million th is year. The school also compares well academi- cally with the rest of the nation. P U engineering graduates have consistently scored fa r above the national average on the annual Fundamentals of Engineering examinations. Erzurumlu has the gift of creating rapport and trust among people he works with, a quality that is valued highly by the private industry representative whose upport he has enlisted. "He' ju tone of the nicest people I've ever met," says Margie Kintz, manag r of corporate contributions at Intel. "In this business, you have to work with a variety of academic types. The thing that impres es me is that he reall y und er rands the corporate moti vations. That's rare in an academi c." C learly Erzu rumlu 's talent for engineering goe fa r beyond the phys ical- he's a good at building the intangible bridges of community as he is at de igning freeway overpasses or earthquake- res istant structure . D PRING 1995 5