List of Turkish Americans

This is a list of notable Turkish Americans, are people who have Turkish ancestry (or have or had Turkish citizenship for those of non-Turkish ethnic descent) and are citizens of the United States.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Turkish American or must have references showing they are Turkish American and are notable.

Academics

Daron Acemoglu, economist, of Armenian descent
Taner Akçam, University of Minnesota professor, historian specializing in the Armenian Genocide^[1]
İlhan Aksay, professor, Princeton University^[2]
Özalp Babaoğlu, professor of computer science at University of Bologna
Ciğdem Balım
Asım Orhan Barut, University of Colorado-Boulder physicist^[3]
Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, associate professor of the practice in statistics at Duke University
Faruk Gül, Professor of Economics, Princeton University^[4]
Feza Gürsey, mathematician and physicist
M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
Alp Ikizler, nephrologist, holder of the Catherine McLaughlin Hakim chair in Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Cemal Kafadar, historian, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies at Harvard University
Merve Kavakçı, George Washington University Professor and former Fazilet Party Parliamentarian exiled from Turkey for violating the Public Head Scarf Ban
Hasan Özbekhan
Mehmet Toner, cryobiologist, professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School, and professor of biomedical engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology^[5]
Turgay Üzer, Georgia Institute of Technology Physicist^[6]
Vamık Volkan,^[7] Princeton University Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry
Nur Yalman,^[8] octolingual Harvard University Professor of Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies
Osman Yaşar, professor and chair of the computational science department at State University of New York College at Brockport^[9]
K. Aslıhan Yener,^[10] University of Chicago archaeologist who uncovered a new source of Bronze Age Anatolian tin mines

Artists

Haluk Akakçe, artist
Burhan Doğançay, painter, photographer, and former soccer player
Sururi Gümen, Illustrator and ghost artist behind Alfred Andriola's comic strip Kerry Drake
Shevaun Mizrahi, filmmaker
Jihan Zencirli, visual artist

Astronomers

Janet Akyüz Mattei, astronomer and director of the AAVSO
Feryal Özel, astrophysicist

Authors

Bülent Atalay, physicist and author
Yalman Onaran, financial journalist and author

Business people

Melih Abdulhayoğlu, founder, CEO, and president of Comodo Group^[11]
Ahmet Ertegün, founder and president of Atlantic Records
Nesuhi Ertegün, executive at Atlantic Records, brother of Ahmet
James Ben Ali Haggin, investor and founder of the Ben Ali Stakes
Muhtar Kent, CEO and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company
Murat Köprülü, investment professional and chairman of the American Turkish Society, and founder and chairman of the American Immigrant Society
Tarkan Maner, CEO of Nexenta Systems
Erol Onaran, founder of Erol's
Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and owner of Chobani

Cinema

Jack Bannon
Aclan Bates, director ^[12]
Bea Benaderet
Turhan Bey, 1940s and 1950s film star
Süleyman "Sully" Geldzvek Boyar, actor best known for his work on Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Car Wash, and The Sopranos
Traci Dinwiddie, actress
Bilge Ebiri, journalist and filmmaker
Ayda Field, actress, married to British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams^[13]
Nicholas Kadi
Erol Onaran, founder of Erol's TV, Erol's Video and Erol's Internet
Eren Özker, puppeteer on The Muppet Show
Paul Shenar

Composer

Emir Işılay, composer and pianist

Doctors

Ibrahim Ben Ali, doctor, casualty in a Baltimore yellow fever epidemic
Zeynel A. Karcıoğlu, M.D., ophthalmic oncology and orbital diseases specialist, surgeon
Behram Kurşunoğlu, physicist, co-founder of the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami
Mehmet Öz, cardiothoracic surgeon and award-winning author who has made frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN
Dr. Hasan Özbekhan, Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, founding member and first director of the think tank The Club of Rome, systems scientist, cyberneticist, philosopher, and planner^[14]

Economics

Kamer Daron Acemoğlu - Turkish economist of Armenian descent
Nouriel Roubini

Historians

Arif Dirlik

House of Osman

Ertuğrul Osman, the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman

Judges

Halil Süleyman Özerden, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi [1]

Music

Bülent Arel, composer of contemporary classical music and electronic music
Ahmet Ertegün, founder of Atlantic Records, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League
Nesuhi Ertegün, record producer and executive of Atlantic Records
Eydie Gormé
Isaac Guillory
Kamran İnce, composer
Tolga Katas, singer, songwriter, and record producer
Arif Mardin, music producer
Neil Sedaka, pop singer, pianist, and songwriter
Pamela Spence, pop-rock singer
Deniz Tek
Özlem Tekin, singer
Pınar Toprak, composer

NASA

Ismail Akbay, served in various managerial capacities during NASA’s Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz projects [2]

Painters

Sevgi Çağal

Philosophers

Nathan Salmon

Politics

Zeyno Baran, scholar on issues on US-Turkey relations
Osman "Oz" Bengür, Maryland Democratic Party Congressional candidate
Fetullah Gülen, leader of the Gülen Movement

Producers

Leslie Bates-Büyüktürkoğlu

Sports

Chris Başak, Major League Baseball infielder
Dave Coskunian, soccer player of Armenian descent
Bobby Dixon, basketball player for the Turkish national team, known in Turkey as Ali Muhammed
Erwin Dudley, basketball player with Turkish passport, known in Turkey as Ersin Dağli
Korel Engin, basketball player
Erden Eruç, completed first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth by rowboat, sea kayak, bicycle and foot
Tunç İlkin, former Pittsburgh Steelers player and sports commentator
Ersan İlyasova, Milwaukee Bucks player
Enes Kanter, basketball player
Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu, basketball player
Yasemin Kimyacıoğlu, basketball player
Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz player and 2007 NBA All-Star
Nevin Nevlin, basketball player
Lisa Marie Varon, former professional wrestler known as Tara in TNA and Victoria in WWE
Hidayet Türkoğlu, Orlando Magic player
Nevriye Yılmaz, basketball player

Talk show hosts

Cenk Uygur, host of the liberal talk radio show The Young Turks on Air America Radio, and a regular blogger on The Huffington Post

Other

Ibrahim Ben Ali
Asım Orhan Barut, theoretical physicist
Orkut Büyükkökten, software engineer
Tantek Çelik, computer scientist
Furkan Doğan student, known for being killed in the Gaza flotilla raid
Brittanee Drexel, woman missing since 2009
Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine film critic
Sibel Deniz Edmonds, former FBI translator
James Ben Ali Haggin, namesake of the Ben Ali Stakes
Kenan Şahin, establishing partner in Lucent Technologies
Ahmet Yıldız biophysicist, GE/Science Young Scientist Award winner

References

^ "Narratives and Testimonies". College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^ Chemical Engineering - People - Ilhan A. Aksay Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Asim Orhan Barut". phys.lsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^ Economics: Permanent Faculty Members Archived 2008-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
^ Harvard Üniversitesi'nde Türk Profesör
^ "Homepages of Turkish Faculty Members". www.turkishnews.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^ P-ROK| Vol. 2 Num.2 | The Color of Leadership: On psychological biography of Ataturk: An Interview With Norman Itzkowitz, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Nur O. Yalman Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Professor Osman Yasar Named One of "Top 30 Most Successful Turks in the World"". hub.mspnet.org. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^ Daughters of Ataturk - Biographies
^ "Free Internet Security and Antivirus | Security Solutions from Comodo". comodo.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^ "Aclan Bates". The New York Times.
^ « Robbie Williams marries Ayda Field at home in LA », peoplestar.co.uk, Retrieved on 2010-08-08.
^ Pearce, Jeremy (26 February 2007). "Hasan Ozbekhan, 86, Economist Who Helped Found Global Group, Dies". The New York Times.

External links

Turks in entertainment

[1] "Narratives and Testimonies". College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

[2] Chemical Engineering - People - Ilhan A. Aksay Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine

[3] "Asim Orhan Barut". phys.lsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

[4] Economics: Permanent Faculty Members Archived 2008-01-01 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Harvard Üniversitesi'nde Türk Profesör

[itulist-6] "Homepages of Turkish Faculty Members". www.turkishnews.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

[7] P-ROK| Vol. 2 Num.2 | The Color of Leadership: On psychological biography of Ataturk: An Interview With Norman Itzkowitz, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies^{[permanent dead link]}

[8] Nur O. Yalman Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine

[9] "Professor Osman Yasar Named One of "Top 30 Most Successful Turks in the World"". hub.mspnet.org. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

[10] Daughters of Ataturk - Biographies

[11] "Free Internet Security and Antivirus | Security Solutions from Comodo". comodo.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

[12] "Aclan Bates". The New York Times.

[13] « Robbie Williams marries Ayda Field at home in LA », peoplestar.co.uk, Retrieved on 2010-08-08.

[14] Pearce, Jeremy (26 February 2007). "Hasan Ozbekhan, 86, Economist Who Helped Found Global Group, Dies". The New York Times.

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