TURKISH-ARMENIAN PROFESSOR ARRANGES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN KAYSERI
HYE-TERT
July 9 2008
Turkey
"I still see Turkey as my actual country. I have expressed my love
for my country on every platform and have helped Turkish students in
the US. Additionally, I arranged the Kayseri conference as a way of
showing thanks."
Professor Bozdogan often volunteers as an educational envoy and
frequently visits Turkey, the country he left 50 years ago to go
to the US and get an education. He lectures on statistics at the
University of Tennessee. Professor Bozdogan, the fifth child of a
middle class family, is a professor famous for formulas he developed,
formulas now named after him.
His love for Turkey has led him to arrange international conferences
in Turkey, to never turn down invitations from Turkish universities
and to help students who have come from Turkey to the US to study. The
"International Data Mining Conference," held on June 19 in Kayseri, was
the latest conference he organized. We spoke with Professor Bozdogan
about his childhood memories, the US and Turkish-Armenian relations,
about which he is hopeful.
Father served in army
Bozdogan was born in a one-room apartment in Kayseri’s Atpazarı
district in 1945. His family is originally from Felahiye, another
district of Kayseri. Meline, his sister, taught him how to read and
write when he was only 3 years old. He was to receive a good education,
his whole family agreed; however, his father, Bedros Bozdogan, known as
"Brick Maker Sgt. Ahmet" was keen on taking his son to the brick kiln
during the summer when school was out in order to show his son the
hardships of working and to gain self-confidence. His mother, Heyna
(also known as Henna), reluctantly agreed. "My father used to make
bricks for the army to be used in train stations during World War
II. During the time I lived in Kayseri, he used to wake me up early
in the morning and take me to the kiln. He showed me the difficulties
of working and encouraged me to study. He asked me to keep track of
accounts and gave me a small amount of money when there was a famine
in the country and we had ration books. I developed self-confidence in
that brick kiln. This confidence brought me success in academia. That
is why I have always been grateful to my father, who died in 1981
at the age of 74." Two of Bozdogan’s siblings now live in the US and
three in Ä°stanbul’s Bakırköy district.
‘Patriarch’s deputy changed my life’
Bozdogan did not disappoint his family when he began classes at
Kayseri Ä°stiklal Elementary School. He became the brightest student
as he already knew how to read and write. A visit by a deputy of the
patriarch to Kayseri when Bozdogan was in third grade changed the
course of his life. "My teachers often came and told my parents to
send me to school for more education since I was quite successful
at school. One day I heard that one of the assistants of Armenian
Patriarch Karekin Khachadourian was in Kayseri. Successful Armenian
children were in those times being taken to Ä°stanbul for further
schooling. I went to the Armenian Church with my brother, Kirkor
[Å~^ahin], who was a student at the Talas American College then, to
see the patriarch’s deputy. Upon seeing my report card he immediately
registered me for İstanbul Karagözyan Armenian Elementary School
without asking a single question. However, at the beginning my family
did not want me to go to Ä°stanbul alone as I was just 8 years old. I
cried for a week when I heard that some of my friends were also going
to Ä°stanbul. In the end, I persuaded them with my brother and then
left for Ä°stanbul."
Professor Bozdogan continued his education at Karagözyan Armenian
Elementary School from fourth grade on. He learned Armenian as a
second language and French thanks to his teacher Mari Sarafyan,
a graduate of the Sorbonne, during this period. Then he went to
Feriköy Secondary School and the Ataturk High School for boys. He
successfully completed these schools and received scholarships. During
this period, the Bozdogan family, with four girls and two boys,
moved to Ä°stanbul. Their longing for their son was at this point
unbearable. "I left Kayseri with grief just like a soldier when I
was 8. Then my family came to Ä°stanbul to end this bitter grief,"
Bozdogan says.
Having completed his high school education in 1964, Bozdogan looked
for ways of going to the US to pursue a higher education where
his brother, seven years older than him, was studying. He found a
way and soon began his education at the University of Wisconsin’s
department of mathematics. He received his undergraduate degree in
1970, supported by the Kalust GuÅ~_benkyan fund. Having completed
his university education, he started his graduate studies at the
University of Illinois’s department of mathematics. He was nominated
for the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
(TUBÄ°TAK) NATO Science Scholarship, but accepted the assistantship
his department offered.
Turkish-American student association chair
After receiving his Ph.D. in multivariate statistical modeling,
Professor Bozdogan continued his career in statistics at the
University of Virginia. While an associate professor he decided
to move to Tokyo with his family to work with Japanese Professor
Hirotugu Akaike and lived there for a year. "Actually, I wanted to
study medicine; however, medical school was too costly for me since I
completed my education with scholarships. Now, I engage in statistics
and the problems I handle reach out to the field of medicine. For
instances, the formulas we have put forward are being used in the
calculation of cancerous cells," Bozdogan says. During his years
at the University of Wisconsin, he saw students coming from Turkey
experienced problems adapting — not unlike himself. To help with this,
he took on the presidency of the Turkish Students Association at the
university, whose main purpose was to help students coming from Turkey,
following the completion of his graduate studies in 1970. He held the
presidency of this association for two years and took on roles in
similar projects in the following years. Professor Bozdogan always
supports Turkish students studying in the US in addition to helping
those who study in the same field in Turkey. Eylem Deniz Akıncı,
an assistant professor at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts,
is one of the academics he helped complete her doctorate. Akıncı
says: "He contributed significantly to my doctorate thesis. I am
also going to have the chance to continue my post-doctoral studies
at the University of Tennessee with the scholarship I won thanks to
the letter of invitation Professor Bozdogan sent me. The conference
he organized in Kayseri is also of great importance. A number of
scientists came to Turkey and are working on joint projects."
Two fellow townsmen meet on a train
Professor Bozdogan decided to organize the international conference
after an interesting coincidence. He met Kayseri Mayor Mehmet Ozhaseki
while traveling to the Italian city of Brixen for a conference. After
a warm chat about Kayseri, the mayor suggested he put together an
international conference in Kayseri and said that he would support
such an endeavor. Bozdogan then started working on this project from
that time on and his efforts bore fruit three years later. "I lived in
the US for many years but I have never forgotten Kayseri and Turkey. I
have always wanted to work on projects that would be beneficial for
my country. That is why this conference is meaningful for me. It is
an opportunity for me to show my gratitude to my hometown. Who would
have guessed that such a conference would be held upon the meeting
of two fellow townsmen on a train?" Bozdogan says.
In 2006 Bozdogan visited Kayseri for the first time since leaving 50
years ago. He went to the neighborhood and house where he spent his
childhood and found his childhood friend Å~^adan Dogan. "It was a great
pleasure for me to find my childhood friend after 50 years. We spoke
about the days we spent together during the three days we met. I look
forward to seeing him again this summer." Professor Bozdogan also had
the opportunity to visit his high school in Ä°stanbul. "I entered my
classroom, sat on my chair 45 years since last sitting on it… It
took me back to those days."
Apart from his life story and academic field, we also asked Professor
Bozdogan about the future of Turkish-Armenian relations. He begins by
noting that neither he nor his family were exposed to ill-treatment
during the time they lived in Turkey. "We never faced any problems. On
the contrary, we were well liked at school and in the neighborhood. I
am hopeful about Turkish-Armenian relations. Although the two countries
have completely dissimilar ideas, a way for peace can be found. The
leaders should come together and work to find a solution. New
generations should grow up with seeds of peace. I am longing for
those days. Otherwise, history will never forgive either side."
Professor Bozdogan has published nine books and over 50 articles. He
continues to lecture at the University of Tennessee. He is planning
on starting up M.A. and Ph.D. programs in the field of statistics and
data mining in Turkey. He says he will continue to support Turkish
students, though he does not plan to return to Turkey.
Kayseri Mayor Mehmet Ozhaseki: We will continue cooperating with
our professor
"I met Professor Bozdogan while traveling on a train. My friends
and I were reading books and seeing the books, his wife understood
that we were Turks. She then came to our compartment with her
husband. ‘Merhaba,’ he said to us. We chatted for a while and I
told him I was the mayor of Kayseri. He spoke warmly about Turkey
and Kayseri. His family is a well-known family in Kayseri. We kept
in contact since our meeting on that train, and I introduced him to
several academics from Kayseri as he is also a well-known academic. We
will continue to cooperate with Professor Bozdogan. I am glad to have
met one of my friendly fellow townsmen," Ozhaseki says.
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