Our Rectors
Prof. Dr. Ramazan KAPLAN 2008-2017
Prof. Dr. Ramazan Kaplan, the founding rector of Bartın University, serving from 2008 to 2017, was born in 1951 in Yalvaç, Isparta. He completed his primary education in Dedeçam village. In the same year, he passed the boarding scholarship examinations of Gönen Teacher Training School and enrolled in the institution. After completing the middle-school section of the school, he was sent to the Music Seminar within Ankara Primary Teacher Training School for Boys, which admitted students through a special entrance examination for music education. He graduated from Ankara Primary Teacher Training School for Boys in 1970. Between 1970 and 1974, he worked as a primary school teacher. Since graduates of teacher training schools were not admitted to university with their existing diplomas at the time, he completed the required high school equivalency courses at Maraş High School in 1972 and began his higher education at Ankara University, Faculty of Languages, History and Geography in 1974.
He graduated from the Department of Modern Turkish Literature at the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography in 1978. He served as a Branch Manager at the Directorate General of External Affairs and Services for Workers Abroad under the Ministry of Labour. He later earned the academic titles of doctor, assistant professor, associate professor and professor at Ankara University. Between 1996 and 1997, he served as an Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Culture. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Chair of the Advisory and Publishing Board of Cultural Works at the Ministry of National Education and as Chair of the Editorial Board of Milli Egitim Journal. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as President of the National Education Academy under the Ministry of National Education. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Head of the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Ankara University Faculty of Languages, History and Geography, and from 2007 to 2008 as Head of the Department of Old Turkish Literature. He also led the curriculum development efforts for the Department of Turkology at the University of Tirana in Albania, carried out under the coordination of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). He lectured in master’s and doctoral programs at the social sciences institutes of the International Turkish-Kazakh Ahmet Yesevi University, Hacettepe University, Kırıkkale University, Süleyman Demirel University, Anadolu University and Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, contributing to the training of many academics.
With the establishment of city universities across Türkiye in 2008, Bartın University was founded as the university bearing the name of the city. Prof. Dr. Kaplan became the founding rector of Bartın University, which was established by Law No. 5765 dated 22 May 2008, and he was appointed to the position on 9 September 2008. He served as Rector of Bartın University between 2008 and 2017. From 2013 to 2016, he served as Chair of the Development Council of the Western Black Sea Development Agency under the Ministry of Development. Between 2014 and 2017, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Yunus Emre Institute under the Ministry of Culture and as a member of the TÜBİTAK Advisory Board for Social Sciences and Humanities. From 2017 to 2018, he served as a member of the Prime Ministry Board of Ethics for Civil Servants. On 7 February 2018, he was appointed as a member of the Higher Education Board of Inspection. While serving as a member of the Higher Education Board of Inspection, Prof. Dr. Kaplan was appointed Chair of the Higher Education Board of Inspection as of July 2020.
Prof. Dr. Orhan UZUN 2017-2025
Prof. Dr. Orhan Uzun was born on 18 October 1965 in Trabzon. He graduated from the Department of Physics Education at Karadeniz Technical University Fatih Faculty of Education in 1990. He completed his master’s degree in the Department of Physics at Yüzüncü Yıl University in 1993 and his doctoral studies in Physics Education at Gazi University in 1998.
After briefly serving as a physics teacher at Urfa-Siverek Imam Hatip High School in 1991, Uzun began his academic career as a research assistant at Yüzüncü Yıl University in 1992. He later held academic positions at Gaziosmanpaşa University, receiving the titles of Dr. in 1998, Assistant Professor in 1999, Associate Professor in 2005 and Professor in 2010.
During his doctoral studies, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Following his doctorate, he also conducted research as a visiting researcher at Stanford University and in Silicon Valley in the United States.
Prof. Dr. Uzun served as a researcher and principal investigator in 18 research and development projects supported by the State Planning Organization, TÜBİTAK and universities. To date, he has supervised a total of 11 graduate theses, including five doctoral dissertations.
In addition to serving as a project evaluator, referee and panelist for TÜBİTAK and various ministries, Uzun has acted as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals publishing research articles. He currently serves on the editorial boards of two scientific journals.
Conducting research in the fields of superconductivity, hydrogen storage, smart materials and nanostructured materials, Prof. Dr. Uzun has published a total of 227 research articles and papers, 76 of which are indexed in SCI. Invited as a speaker to numerous national and international conferences, Uzun’s work had received 3,554 citations as of January 10, 2025.
Uzun began serving at Bülent Ecevit University in 2012, where he held several administrative positions, including Vice Rector and Dean. From December 2015, he served as President of the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council. While continuing this duty, Prof. Dr. Uzun was appointed Rector of Bartın University by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 18 April 2017 and was reappointed to the position on 21 April 2021. Prof. Dr. Orhan Uzun is married and has three children.