Oktay Sinanoğlu (25 February 1935, Bari – 19 April 2015, Miami) was a Turkish chemical engineer and academic. He gave lectures in the fields of chemistry, molecular biophysics, biochemistry, and mathematics. In 1975, by a special law, Oktay Sinanoğlu was given the first and only title of "Professor of the Republic of Turkey." He is known in Turkey as much for his academic work as for his political views concerning the Turkish language.
Life
He was born on 25 February 1935 in the Italian city of Bari, where his father Nüzhet Haşim Sinanoğlu served as consul general. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he returned to Turkey with his family in 1939.
Oktay Sinanoğlu graduated at the top of his class from TED Ankara Yenişehir High School in 1953. In 1953 he went to the USA on a school scholarship. In 1956 he graduated as a chemical engineer from the University of California at Berkeley in the United States. In 1957 he completed his master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The same year he won the "Sloan Award."
After completing his associate professorship thesis (1958–1959), he completed his doctorate in theoretical chemistry at Berkeley (1959–1960). His doctoral advisor was Kenneth Pitzer.
On 21 December 1963 he married Paula Armbruster, a student at Yale University. The wedding ceremony was held at the Branford College Chapel of Yale. After this marriage, he married Dilek Sinanoğlu, and from this marriage he had twin children.
He died on 19 April 2015 in the U.S. state of Florida. He was the elder brother of the famous artist Esin Afşar. He was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery next to his mother Rüveyde Sinanoğlu and his sister Esin Afşar Aral.
Academic career
In 1960 he became a faculty member at Yale University. On 1 July 1963, receiving the title of full professor in the field of chemistry, it was announced that he was the faculty member who won the title of "full professorship" at the youngest age at Yale University in the 20th century. In later years it emerged that he was the second-youngest faculty member to receive the title of full professorship in the last century. He is believed to be the third-youngest faculty member to receive the title of full professorship in Yale University's 300-year history.
In 1964 he founded the department of theoretical chemistry at Yale University. During his tenure at Yale, he carried out his work on the many-electron theory of atoms and molecules (1961), solvent theory (1964), the theory of chemical reaction mechanisms (1974), microthermodynamics (1981), and valence shell interaction theory (1983). In 1988 he published his method called Sinanoğlu reduction, a revolutionary method based on the mathematical theories he himself developed, in order to predict how chemicals to be combined in a laboratory environment would react after being combined. After working at Yale for 37 years, he retired in 1997.
Throughout his time at Yale, he served as a consultant to various Turkish universities, to TÜBİTAK, and to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). In 1962 the board of trustees of Middle East Technical University gave Oktay Sinanoğlu the title of "Consultant Professor." By a special law enacted in 1975, he was given the title "Professor of the Republic" by the state. In 1966 he won the "TÜBİTAK Science Award" in the field of chemistry, in 1973 the "Alexander von Humboldt Research Award," and in 1975 the "International Outstanding Scientist Award of Japan." In 1973 he was sent to Japan as an "Honorary Ambassador." Sinanoğlu also said that he was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize.
His views and work on the Turkish language
During the period he was in Turkey, he devoted his work more to creating a Turkish-language consciousness in society and emphasized that Turkish was under the invasion of foreign languages. He argued that the language of education should be Turkish and that foreign languages should be taught in a supplementary manner. He proposed various equivalents for some words in Turkish that he said were of foreign origin.
He also said that, because of its mathematical structure, Turkish is the best language for science.
Death
His wife Dilek Sinanoğlu made statements about his death. The physicians said that a feeding tube needed to be inserted into Oktay Sinanoğlu because he could not be adequately nourished. As a result of the feeding tube becoming blocked and food filling the lungs, he entered a deep coma and died on 19 April 2015 at the age of 80. No medical explanation was made about his death, and his body was sent to Turkey.
Academic
Modern Quantum Chemistry: Istanbul Lectures (Academic Press, 1965)
Sigma Molecular Orbital Theory (Yale Press, 1970)
Three Approaches to Electron Correlation in Atoms and Molecules (with K. Brueckner, Yale Press, 1971)
New Directions in Atomic Physics (with E. Condon, Yale Press, 1971)
Others
Göçmen Hamamı (ISBN 9786054569014)
2050'ye 5 Kala Dünyanın 105 Yıllık Tarihi (ISBN 9944090674)
İlerisi için (ISBN 9944090611, ISBN 9944090612)
Türkçe Giderse Türkiye Gider (ISBN 9944090605)
Bye Bye Türkçe / Bir Nev-York Rüyası (ISBN 9752977634, ISBN 9752977631)
Büyük Uyanış (ISBN 975841027X, ISBN 9752977669)
Hedef Türkiye (ISBN 9758410229, ISBN 9752977648)
Ne Yapmalı / Yeniden Diriliş ve Kurtuluş İçin (ISBN 9752977626)
Yeni Bilim Ufukları I (ISBN 9789944090)
Yeni Bilim Ufukları 2 Yeni bir matematik kuramı ve onunla bazı fizik kimya ilkelerinin bulunması (ISBN 9789789944095)
Yeni Bilim Ufukları 3 Hayatın Örgüsü Elli Yıllık Biyolojinin Temellerini Sarsan Sorular (ISBN 9944090681)
Açıklamalı Fizik, Kimya, Matematik Ana Terimleri Sözlüğü (ISBN 9789751619679)
Books written about him
Türk Aynştaynı, Oktay Sinanoğlu (compiled by: Emine Çaykara) (ISBN 975-297-765-0)
Oktay Sinanoğlu, Bir Türk Dehası (written by: Ahmet Hakan) (ISBN 9758618342)
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org