Nihat Berker
| Ahmet Nihat Berker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 20, 1949 İstanbul, Turkey |
| Citizenship |
 Turkey |
| Nationality |
Turkish |
| Fields | Statistical mechanics |
| Institutions |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Technical University of Istanbul Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Koç University Sabancı University |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Renormalization group, Critical phenomena, Phase Transitions |
| Notable awards |
|
Ahmet Nihat Berker (born 20 September 1949 in Istanbul), is a Turkish scientist, theoretical chemist, physicist and emeritus professor of physics at MIT. Currently, he is the president of the Sabancı University in Turkey. He is the son of a notable scientist and engineer Ratip Berker, who was deceased on October 17, 1997. His wife, Bedia Erim Berker[1] is a professor of chemistry at Istanbul Technical University, and one of his sons, Selim Berker is a professor of epistemology in the department of philosophy at Harvard University.[2][3] His younger son, Ratip Emin Berker, is a student at Robert College in Istanbul.
Academic life
After graduating from Robert College at first place in 1967, Nihat Berker received B.S. degrees in physics and chemistry from MIT in 1971. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1972 and 1977, respectively. He was an assistant professor during 1979-82, associate professor during 1982-88, and professor of theoretical physics during 1988-04 at MIT. From 1999 to 2004, he served as a professor and dean of the School of Sciences and Letters at The Istanbul Technical University. After losing the president (rector) elections in ITU,[4] he left the Technical University of Istanbul for a professor position at Koç University. He became emeritus professor of Physics at MIT in 2004. He was an adjunct professor of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi in Bebek-İstanbul between 1996 and 2004, as well. During 2005-2009, he served as a professor of physics at Koç University, Rumelifeneri, Sarıyer, Istanbul. Since 2009, he is the president of Sabancı University in Tuzla, Istanbul-Turkey.
Research areas
Nihat Berker is best known for his research in statistical mechanics, especially on phase transitions applying renormalization group theory, with applications to surface physics and materials with defects.