ISKENDER YILGOR

Biography

Dr. Iskender Yilgör is Professor of Polymer Chemistry at Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.  He received his B. S., M. S. and Ph. D. Degrees from Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, where he also served as an Assistant Professor until 1980.

Between 1980 and 1985 Dr. Yilgör was a Visiting Scientist at Prof. Jim McGrath’s Polymer Group, at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. Then he joined Mercor Division of Thoratec Laboratories Corporation, Berkeley, California, USA, as the Vice President of Research and Development and was employed until 1989. Between 1989 and 1994 he served as the Director and Vice President of Research and Development at Goldschmidt Chemical Corporation, Hopewell, Virginia, USA, where he established the Polymer Center focused on development, production and commercialization of thermoplastic polyurethanes and various silicone containing copolymers.

In 1994 Dr. Yilgör joined Koc University as the founding faculty member of the Chemistry Department, where he also established the Polymer Research Laboratories together with Emel Yilgör.

In 2010 he established the Koc University Surface Science and Technology Center (KUYTAM) with a $10,000,000 grant from Turkish State Planning Organization (DPT) and served as the founding Director.

Prof. Yilgör was also the founding Dean of the Koc University Graduate School of Health Sciences in 2011, where he served for 3 years.

Prof. Yilgör is the recipient of 2003 Tübitak Science Award for his lifetime contributions to Polymer Science. Prof. Yilgör also received Koc University-Siemens Award in Excellence in Science and Innovation (1999), Rotary International-Mersin Toros Rotary Club Science Award,  for his contributions to Polymer Science (2004) and Best Paper Award in ACS 167th Rubber Division Meeting in San Antonio, TX (2005).

Prof. Yilgör served as a member of Tübitak's Science Board between 2009 - 2013. Tübitak is the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Toros University, Mersin, Turkey. He is an Associate Editor of European Journal of Chemistry and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board's of several international journals, including Silicon. 

Prof. Yilgör has published over 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters and is a co-inventor on 10 US and European Patents.