Prof. Abdullah Atalar is the Rector of Bilkent University (Turkey), and a Professor at Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
He was born on April 11, 1954 in Gaziantep, Turkey and received his bachelor's degree at Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara before earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University (USA) in 1978. His thesis work was on reflection acoustic microscopy.
His research interests include analog and digital integrated circuit design, linearization of RF power amplifiers, micromachined sensors and atomic force microscopy. From 1978 to 1980 he was first a Post Doctoral Fellow and later an Engineering Research Associate in Stanford University continuing his work on acoustic microscopy. For 8 months he was with Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto, engaged in photoacoustics research. From 1980 to 1986 he was on the faculty of the Middle East Technical University as an Assistant Professor. From 1982 to 1983 on leave from University, he was with Ernst Leitz Wetzlar, Germany, where he was involved in the development of the commercial acoustic microscope.
In 1986 he joined the Bilkent University as the Chairman of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department and served in the founding of the department where he is now a Professor. In 1995-1996 he was in the Ginzton Lab of Stanford University on a sabbatical leave.
He collaborates with a Stanford Research team as a Visiting Professor of Electrical Engineering Department of Stanford University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on VLSI design and microwave electronics. His current research interests include micromachined sensors and actuators and computer aided design in Electrical Engineering. He is a fellow of IEEE.
He was the Provost of Bilkent University between 1995 and 2010. He was on the Science Board of Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) between 2004 to 2011. He served as the President of the Turkish Interuniversity Council in 2010. In March 2010 he was appointed as the Rector of the Bilkent University.