Oktay Sinanoğlu

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Oktay Sinanoğlu (born February 25, 1935 in Bari , † April 19, 2015 in Miami ) was a Turkish chemist and biophysicist. He was Professor of Chemistry at Yale University for 37 years and was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry .

Life

Sinanoğlu was born in 1935 to Nüzhet Haşim and Rüveyde Sinanoğlu. His father was an official at the Turkish consulate in Bari and wrote books on Greek and Roman mythology and Petrarch . His sister Esin Afşar (1936–2011) was a well-known singer and actress.

In July 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the family returned to Turkey. Sinanoğlu attended TED Ankara Koleji until 1951 and in 1953 went to the United States to study at the University of California, Berkeley , from which he graduated in 1956 with a bachelor's degree. The following year he received his Masters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received the Sloan Research Fellowship in 1962 . He then received his PhD from the University of California until 1960.

In 1960, Sinanoğlu went to Yale University and became a full professor of chemistry there in 1963. At the age of 28, he was the youngest professor at the university in the 20th century and probably the third youngest professor in the 300-year history of the university. In 1964 he founded the department for theoretical chemistry at the university. During his time at Yale he developed the "Many Electron Theory of Atoms and Molecules" (1961), the "Solvophobic Theory" (1964), the "Network Theory of Coupled Chemical Reactions" (1974), the "Microthermodynamic surface tension" ( 1981) and the "Valency Interaction Formula Theory" (1983). He also developed the “Sinanoğlu Made Simple” method from his mathematical theories and published it in 1988. With the help of this method and the use of simple images, chemists can predict how complex chemical reactions take place and solve complex problems in quantum chemistry . After 37 years at Yale, Sinanoğlu retired in 1997. During his career he was a frequent advisor to several Turkish universities, the Turkish Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (TÜBITAK) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). In 1962, the Board of Trustees of the Technical University of the Middle East in Ankara appointed him "Consulting Professor" (advisory professor). So far he is the only one to have received this title.

After leaving Yale, Sinanoğlu became a professor in the chemistry department at Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi in Istanbul, where he taught until 2002.

In 2001, the Turkish author Emine Çaykara published the book Türk Aynştaynı Oktay Sinanoğlu Kitabı ( Eng . The Turkish Einstein - The Oktay Sinanoğlu Book ).

Oktay Sinanoğlu died on April 19, 2015 after a brief hospital stay in Miami at the age of 80. His remains were transferred to Istanbul. After a memorial event in the Caddebostan Cultural Center in Kadıköy and the funeral prayer in the Şakirin Mosque , he was buried in the Karacaahmet cemetery.

Private life

On December 21, 1963, Oktay Sinanoğlu married Paula Armbruster, who studied at Yale University , in the chapel of Branford College , Yale. The couple has a son. After the divorce, he married Dilek Sinanoğlu, with whom he had twins. The family lived in Fort Lauderdale , Texas and Istanbul .

Awards

In 1966 he received the "TÜBITAK Science Award" for chemistry, in 1973 the Humboldt Research Prize for Chemistry and in 1975 the "International Outstanding Scientist Award of Japan". Sinanoğlu was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1970 he was accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Publications (selection)

Sinanoğlu has authored and co-authored numerous books and scientific articles on chemistry. He also published books on Turkey and the Turkish language, such as Target Turkey and Bye-Bye Türkçe .

  • Intermolecular Forces and Statistical Mechanics . Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley 1959
  • Modern Quantum Chemistry - Istanbul Lectures . 3 volumes, Academic Press, New York 1965
  • with Kenneth Berle Wiberg: Sigma Molecular Orbital Theory . Yale Press, New Haven, 1970
  • with K. Brueckner: Three Approaches to Electron Correlation in Atoms . Yale Press, New Haven / London, 1970
  • Türkçe eğitimin önemi . Malatya Belediyesi, Malatya 2001
  • Bir Nev-York rüyası "Bye-Bye" Türkçe: Türkçe giderse Türkiye gider . Alfa, Istanbul 2006
  • with Yalçın Küçük; Banu Avar; Erol Bilbilik: Çökmeden . Destek Yayınları, Ankara 2009
  • Adam . Bilim + Gönül Yayınları, Istanbul 2013
  • Türkiye nereden, nereye? . Bilim + Gönül Yayınları, Istanbul 2015

literature

  • Emine Çaykara: Türk Aynştaynı: Oktay Sinanoğlu kitabı . Alfa Basım Yayım Dağıtım, Istanbul 2009

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Resmî Gazete , 17 Kanunuevvel 1933, No. 2580 and Resmî Gazete, May 24, 1937, Hariciye Vekaleti Kararnamesi
  2. ↑ Nüzhet Haşim Sinanoğlu: Petrarca . Köy Hocası Matbaası, Ankara 1931
  3. ↑ a b c Oktay Sinanoğlu hayatını kaybetti - Oktay Sinanoğlu Kimdir? , Sabah , April 20, 2015 (Turkish)
  4. ↑ Resmî Gazete , July 19, 1938, p. 1 Hariciye Vekaleti Kararnamesi
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g In memoriam: Oktay Sinanoğlu, renowned theoretical chemist , Yale News, April 20, 2015 (English)
  6. ↑ a b Paula Armbruster Is Married at Yale , The New York Times , January 12, 1964 (English)
  7. ^ Yale Daily News , No. 139, May 22, 1963
  8. ↑ Jenny Rood: Prominent Chemist Dies , The Scientist , May 7, 2015 (English)
  9. ↑ a b c Prominent Turkish scholar Oktay Sinanoğlu dies at age 80 , Hürriyet Daily News, April 21, 2015 (English)
  10. ↑ Türk Einstein'ı yoğun bakımda! Prof. Dr. Oktay Sinanoğlu kimdir? , Hürriyet , April 10, 2015 (Turkish)
  11. ↑ Turkish Einstein 'Oktay Sinanoglu dies at 80 , Anadolu Agency , April 20, 2015 (English)
  12. ↑ Oktay Sinanoğlu son yolculuğuna uğurlandı , Hürriyet , April 26, 2015 (Turkish)
  13. ↑ Geçmiş Yıllarda Bilim Ödülü Alanlar , TÜBITAK, accessed on April 20, 2018 (Turkish)
  14. ↑ Chapter S of the list of members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 1780–2017 , American Academy of Arts & Sciences, p. 553, accessed on May 20, 2018 (PDF)
personal data
SURNAME Sinanoğlu, Octay
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Turkish chemist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Bari
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 2015
Place of death Miami