Institute Directors

Prof. Dr. Okan Örsan Özener received his B.Sc (2001) and M.S. (2003) degrees in Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University. In 2006, he obtained his M.S. degree in Operations Research and in 2008 his Ph. D in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He worked as a research assistant at Middle East Technical University between 2001 and 2003, and at Georgia Institute of Technology between 2003 and 2008. His research interests are in data science, data-driven optimization, integer/combinatorial optimization, machine learning, non-cooperative/cooperative game theory and supply chain management applications. Prof. Özener has been a faculty member in the Department of Industrial Engineering since 2008 and has served as the Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering between 2016-2022 and as the Vice Dean of the Engineering Faculty from 2022-2024. He was appointed as Deputy Dean of The Faculty of Engineering and Deputy Director Graduate School of Engineering as of January 2025.

Prof. Dr. Mahmut Bayazıt received his bachelor's degree in Psychology from Boğaziçi University in 1995 and his master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Baruch College, City University of New York, in 1998. He completed his Ph.D. in 2003 at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, specializing in Organizational Development, Human Resource Studies, and Social Statistics. Between 2003 and 2007, he worked as an Assistant Professor in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Koç University. From 2007 to 2024, he served at Sabancı University’s School of Management as an Assistant Professor and later as an Associate Professor in Organizational Studies. During his tenure at Sabancı University, he was a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University from 2010 to 2011 and at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, from 2016 to 2017. Prof. Dr. Bayazıt's research interests include leadership and employee motivation, gender and leadership, flexible work arrangements and work-family conflict, strategic HRM systems, and compensation and reward system effectiveness. He joined the Faculty of Business as a Professor in Management in September 2024 and started the role of Director of the Graduate School of Business in January 2025.

Dr. Gözkan received his B.A. degree in Philosophy from Boğaziçi University in 1994. She obtained her first master’s degree in philosophy at Boğaziçi University and her second master's degree in developmental psychology at Koç University, Department of Psychology. She completed her PhD in developmental psychology at Clark University in 2012. Dr. Gözkan's research focuses on social and emotional development during adolescence from the perspective of positive youth development and self-determination theory. Dr. Gözkan has been working in the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Özyeğin University since 2012. She served as the Head of the Department of Psychology between 2017-2020. Since September 2023, he has been working as the Director of the Institute of Social Sciences.