Ahmet Evin

Ahmet Evin is a Senior Scholar in Istanbul Policy Center and Professor at Sabancı University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Jean Monnet chair at Sabanci University. Prior to his appointment at Sabanci University Ahmet Evin, the founding dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabanci University taught at New York University, Harvard University, Hacettepe University (Ankara), the University of Pennsylvania (where he also served as director of the Middle East Center), University of Hamburg, and Bilkent University in Ankara (where he headed the Department of Political Science).

Evin’s private sector experience includes corporate management at Philip Morris International; he represented Philip Morris Companies in Ankara and was responsible for the legal and administrative aspects of direct foreign investment in a major consumer product sector during its transition from state monopoly to international competition.

As director of education of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, a Geneva-based international development foundation, he coordinated the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in cooperation with that US-based resource center assisted in the development of architectural education in Asia and Africa. He has also served as a consultant to the Aga Khan Award for Architecture as well as an editor of the Award publication.

Evin initiated, with the European Commission’s support, a policy dialogue on the future European architecture, EU’s eastward expansion, its Mediterranean policy, and the customs union agreement with Turkey. He has established, with the European University Institute (EUI), Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, EU- Turkish Observatory, and several joint programs of professional training and policy research with academic institutions and non-governmental organizations, such as ELIAMEP, USIP, The Kokkalis Program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Evin is also the founding member of the Turkish Economy and Social Studies Foundation and the Middle East Studies Association of North America. He has authored or edited over 10 volumes on politics, culture, and development. His research interests include theories of the State and elites; Turkish political development; and democracy and civil society. He currently works on current foreign policy issues related to the European enlargement, its significance for Turkey and the region as well as its effect on Transatlantic relations.

Evin received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in Middle East Studies and Cultural History in 1973. He was named William Mitchell Fellow at Columbia where he continued his graduate work. He had his BA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University in 1966.