DARON ACEMOĞLU

Elizabeth and James Killian Chair Professor of Economics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A professor of Applied Economics at M.I.T., Daron Acemoglu is among the 20 most cited economists in the world, and was twice named one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers. He has received the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal for being a top economist under 40, the Nemmers Prize in Economics, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, and an Andrew Carnegie fellowship.

Born in Turkey and educated in England, Acemoglu has written for mainstream magazines, is a regular speaker for banks, think tanks, corporations, and other major institutions across the globe, and has received high-profile attention in many prestigious newspapers and journals. He also co-edits academic publications, such as The Journal of Economic Growth.

Acemoglu is the co-author, with Harvard’s James Robinson, of The New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty—a major work of historical, political, and cultural heft that comes along only once every few years. Throughout this ambitious, bracing work (shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award), Acemoglu answers a question that has confounded leading minds for centuries: why are some nations rich, while others poor? Instead of looking to weather, cultural practices, or geography, we need to look to institutions, he argues—both strong and poor, political and economic—to understand prosperity and success.

JOSEF ACKERMANN

Former CEO of Deutsche Bank

Josef Ackermann has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance Group since March 2012. Prior to his position as Chairman, he served as Vice-Chairman for two years. After obtaining his doctorate in 1977, he joined Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA). In 1990, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of SKA, becoming its Chairman in 1993. In 1996, Mr. Ackermann joined the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG; in 2002, he became the Spokesman of the Management Board and Chairman of the Group Executive Committee and between February 2006 and May 2012 he was the Chairman of the Management Board.

Mr. Ackermann is a Member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG, Germany (Second Deputy Chairman), a Member of the Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell, the Netherlands and of Investor AB, Sweden, as well as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd, Biel. He also plays an active role in the World Economic Forum (Co-Chairman of the Foundation Board), the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies (Chairman), the Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings at Lake Constance (Honorary Senate Member) and the Metropolitan Opera New York (Advisory Director). In 2007, Mr. Ackermann accepted an appointment as visiting professor in finance at the London School of Economics. In July 2008, he was appointed as Honorary Professor at Frankfurt’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. Furthermore, he is an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. Mr. Ackermann studied economics and social sciences at the University of St. Gallen and received his PhD in 1977.

SUZAN SABANCI

Chairman,
Akbank

Suzan Sabancı is the Chairman of Akbank. Ms. Sabancı is also a board member of Sabancı Holding and a member of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University and the Sabancı Foundation. In 2009, Ms Sabanci founded the Akbank International Advisory Board and currently serves as its chairman.
Suzan Sabancı began her career in banking in 1986 and joined Akbank as Executive Vice President in charge of Treasury in 1989. Having specialized in Treasury and Risk Management, she has been active in these two subjects since 1993. In 1997, she was named Executive Board Member for Treasury and International Banking Relations. Ms Sabancı was appointed as Executive Board Member to oversee the bank-wide change and transition program in 2001. She was named Chairman in March, 2008.
Ms. Sabancı is a member of the Institute of International Finance Board of Directors and Emerging Markets Advisory Board, Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council, Harvard Business School’s Global Leaders Circle, and an emeritus member of the Harvard Business School’s Middle East and North Africa Advisory Board. Suzan Sabancı is also co-chair of the New York-based American-Turkish Society, as well as a member of the Global Board of Advisors at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Board of Managing Directors of Venetian Heritage, Inc, and the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee of the Serpentine Council respectively.
From 2010 to 2014, Suzan Sabancı served as the chairman of the Turkish-British Business Council for two terms. From 2009 to 2016, Ms. Sabancı sat on the Global Board of Advisors of Chatham House and she is currently a member of the Chatham House Chairman’s Circle. In 2012, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II awarded Ms. Sabancı the title of "Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)" in recognition of her proactive and influential contributions to the development of Turkey-UK relations. Having previously served as an Advisory Board Member for The Prince's Charities, Ms. Sabancı is currently a Patron of Prince’s Trust International, a highly prestigious charity organisation set up by King Charles III, then The Prince of Wales, in 1976 and aimed at promoting the development of young people.
Suzan Sabancı is strongly committed to corporate social responsibility activities and assumes various positions in the fields of culture, education, and the promotion of entrepreneurship. Between 2014 and 2018, Sabancı acted as the Advisory Board President of the Women on Board Association Turkey, dedicated to promoting social development by increasing female representation on boards. She is a founding member and board member of the leading high-impact entrepreneurship movement, Endeavor Turkey, a founding and honorary member of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey, and chairman of the Executive Advisory Board and member of the board of patrons of the Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair. Ms. Sabancı acted as Luxembourg’s Honorary Consul in Istanbul between 2005 and 2022 for 17 years. In 2014, Ms. Sabancı was given the Order of Civil Merit (Orden del Mérito Civil) of the Kingdom of Spain by King Felipe VI of Spain for her contributions to the relations between the two countries and for her support to the cultural convergence.
Suzan Sabancı holds a BA in Finance from Richmond College in the UK and an MBA from Boston University in the USA. Ms. Sabancı has two children

LORD STEPHEN GREEN

Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint
Former UK Minister of State

Stephen Green was educated at Lancing College, Sussex, and at Oxford University where he graduated in 1969 with a BA (First Class Honours) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He also obtained a Masters Degree in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975. He was created a Life Peer in 2010 and was appointed Minister of State for Trade and Investment in January 2011. He retired from this position in December 2013.

Lord Green began his career in 1970 with the British Government’s Ministry of Overseas Development. In 1977, he joined McKinsey & Co Inc, management consultants, with whom he undertook assignments in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

He joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1982 with responsibility for corporate planning activities, and in 1985 was put in charge of the development of the bank’s global treasury operations. In 1992, he became Group Treasurer of HSBC Holdings plc with responsibility for the HSBC Group’s treasury and capital markets businesses globally. In 1998, he was appointed to the Board of HSBC Holdings plc as an Executive Director. He became Group Chief Executive in 2003 and Group Chairman 2006. He retired from HSBC in December 2010.

Lord Green was Chairman of the British Bankers’ Association from 2006 to 2010. He also served as a Trustee of the British Museum. He served as a non-executive director of BASF.se until 2010.

He is Chairman of the Natural History Museum, Chairman of the International Advisory Council of the British Chambers of Commerce and is a member of the House of Lords EU Select Committee.

Stephen Green has written four books – Serving God? Serving Mammon? [1996]; Good Value, Choosing a Better Life in Business [2009]; Reluctant Meister – How Germany’s Past is Shaping its European Future [2014]; and The European Identity – Historical and Cultural Realities We Cannot Deny [2015].

Stephen Green is married with two daughters.

DANTE ROSCINI

Professor of International Economy,
Harvard Business School

Dante Roscini teaches Managing International Trade and Investment in the Business, Government and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. He joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 2008 and has published extensively on sovereign debt, monetary policy, central banking and international investment. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard and a summa cum laude Laurea degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Rome, Italy. Before coming back to HBS Prof. Roscini spent twenty years in investment banking with senior positions at three of the top US bulge bracket firms in New York and London.

He was Head of European Capital Markets for Goldman Sachs, Head of Global Equity Capital Markets and Head of the European Capital Markets and Financing Group for Merrill Lynch where he was also a member of the Capital Commitments Committee and of the Managing Directors Promotions Committee. Finally, he was Country Head of Italy and Chairman of European Capital Markets for Morgan Stanley as well as a board member of Morgan Stanley International Bank. Prior to his career in investment banking Prof. Roscini worked as a researcher in nuclear archaeometry at the University of Rome, as a design engineer and project manager with Westinghouse Electric Corp. in the US and as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Paris. He is on the board of several public and private companies. He is a senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Association in New York and of the Atlantic Council in Washington.

ROBERT RUBIN

Mr. Rubin began his career in finance at Goldman, Sachs & Company in New York City in 1966. Mr. Rubin served as Vice-Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer from 1987-1990 and as Co-Senior Partner and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992. Before joining Goldman, he was an attorney at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City from 1964-1966.

Long active in public affairs, Mr. Rubin joined the Clinton Administration in 1993 as Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and as Director of the newly-created National Economic Council. At the NEC, he coordinated economic policy recommendations to the President and monitored the implementation of the President’s economic policy goals.

In January 1995, Mr. Rubin was appointed as our nation’s 70th Secretary of the Treasury. He served for 4-1/2 years until July 1999, where he was involved in balancing the federal budget; opening trade policy to further globalization; acting to stem financial crises in Mexico, Asia and Russia; helping to resolve the impasse over the public debt limit; and guiding sensible reforms at the Internal Revenue Service.

From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Rubin served as a member of the Board of Directors at Citigroup and as a senior advisor to the company. In that capacity, he worked extensively with the firm’s clients around the world.

Mr. Rubin is one of the founders of The Hamilton Project, an economic policy project housed at the Brookings Institution that offers a strategic vision and innovative policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans.

Mr. Rubin is the author of In An Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington [Random House, 2003, with Jacob Weisberg], which was a New York Times bestseller as well as being named one of Business Week’s ten best business books of the year.

Mr. Rubin is Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Boards of Trustees at the Mount Sinai Health System, and Chairman of the Board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which is the nation’s leading community development support organization with 38 offices nationwide. He recently completed a 12-year term as a member of the Harvard Corporation. Mr. Rubin joined Centerview Partners in 2010 as a counselor of the firm. In his role at Centerview, he serves as a sounding board and advisor to clients across the firm’s various activities, bringing years of experience in finance and public policy.

Mr. Rubin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1960 with an A.B. in economics. He received a L.L.B. from Yale Law School in 1964 and attended the London School of Economics. He has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other universities. He was born in New York City in 1938 and is married to Judith Oxenberg Rubin, who served as the New York City Commissioner of Protocol for four years under Mayor David Dinkins. The Rubins have two adult sons, James and Philip.

LAWRENCE H.SUMMERS

Harvard University

Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus of Harvard University. During the past two decades, he has served in a series of senior policy positions in Washington, D.C., including the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton, Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama and Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist of the World Bank.

He received a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and was awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982. In 1983, he became one of the youngest individuals in recent history to be named as a tenured member of the Harvard University faculty. In 1987, Mr. Summers became the first social scientist ever to receive the annual Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and in 1993 he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to the outstanding American economist under the age of 40.

He is currently the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University and the Weil Director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He and his wife Elisa New, a professor of English at Harvard, reside in Brookline with their six children.

PROF. DR. YUSUF LEBLEBİCİ

President,
Sabancı University

Yusuf Leblebici received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1984 and 1986, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IL, USA, in 1990. Between 1991 and 1999, he worked as a faculty member at UIUC, at Istanbul Technical University, and at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) where he established and directed the VLSI Design Laboratory. From 1999 to 2002, he also served as the Microelectronics Program Coordinator at Sabanci University.

Since 2002, he is a Chair Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Director of the Microelectronic Systems Laboratory. His research interests include design of high-speed CMOS digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits, computer-aided design of VLSI systems, intelligent sensor interfaces, modeling and simulation of semiconductor devices, and VLSI reliability analysis. He is the co-author of seven books (including two internationally acclaimed textbooks), as well as more than 250 articles published in various journals and conferences.

Yusuf Leblebici has been the recipient of the prestigious Young Scientist Award of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council in 1995, and the “Joseph S. Satin Distinguished Fellow Award” in 1999. He was elected as an IEEE Fellow in 2009, and as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society for 2010–2011.

PROF. DR. ÖZGÜR DEMİRTAŞ

Chair Professor of Finance,
Sabancı University

Ozgur Demirtas was born in Ankara, Turkey. He got his BS degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bogazici University in 1998. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Finance from Boston College in 2003. In the same year, he was appointed as a tenure track Assistant Professor at Baruch College, City University of New York. In 2004, he was elected as the best instructor within the Finance Department of the college. In 2005, he was elected as the best instructor within all the departments of the business school. In 2007, he was awarded with one of the prestigious medals of the University: The Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence. He earned a tenured Associate Professor position in the same year. In 2010, he was ranked within the top 20 list among more than one million professors evaluated by 10 million students in USA, Canada, England, and Scotland. He also taught classes at the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business and he earned the highest evaluations in the finance department.

His academic work has been published in various academic journals. He published more than 35 academic articles in leading journals such as Management Science, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Review of Finance, and Journal of Business & Economic Statistics. He also published a book about hedge funds by Academic Press. His research has been rewarded by the City University of New York for six consecutive years. In 2012, he joined Sabanci University as a Chair Professor of Finance and achieved to be Marie-Curie Research fellow.

Prof. Ozgur Demirtas is a Founding Chairman of the Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) at Sabanci University. He is a Board Member of Akbank, one of the leading banks of Turkey. He was also a Founding Board member of Turkey’s first Financial Literacy and Savings Association (FODER). He has been a consultant for several business organizations. He frequently acts as a chief advisor to large corporations and conglomerates. He develops risk management software for the insurance industry. He is one of the leading keynote speakers to leading corporations and he joins think tank organizations with leading policymakers to emphasize the importance of economic and financial development. He is also an angel investor particularly interested in biotech sector.

PROF. DR. YİĞİT ATILGAN

Faculty Member, Sabancı University

Professor Atılgan received his BA in Management from Boğaziçi University in 2003, his MS in Finance from University of Rochester in 2005 and his PhD in Finance from City University of New York in 2010. In the same year, he joined Sabancı Business School. In 2015 and 2021, he earned the titles of Associate Professor and Full Professor, respectively.

Professor Atılgan's research interests include determinants of equity returns, derivative markets, fixed-income instruments and asset pricing in emerging markets. His research has been published in various academic journals such as Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Banking and Finance and Journal of Business & Economic Statistics among others. He has also co-authored a book on risks and returns of investing in hedge funds published by Academic Press (Elsevier).

Professor Atılgan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on investments, portfolio theory, derivative instruments, fixed-income analytics and corporate valuation. He is also a CFA charterholder.

ELİF KARTAL

Project Coordinator

Elif Kartal works as a Project Coordinator in CEF. After commencing her education in Moscow, she graduated from Kadıköy Anatolian High School and earned her BA in Management at Sabancı University in 2011.

After her undergraduate education, she took courses on TV at Müjdat Gezen Art Centre and developed herself in areas such as communication, body language, presentation techniques and diction. Following her work in the media sector, she has continued her career in marketing. At the beginning of 2016, she returned to Sabancı University and joined the CEF Team.

Aside her professional career, Elif Kartal gives importance to social responsibility projects. She has earned a Sabanci University Extra Curricular Activity Award for being a member of Civic Involvement Projects. She is the founder of Onlar Kardeslerimiz Project which aims to support the educations of primary school students in rural areas of Turkey since 2011.

EGE GÜVEN

Project Specialist

Ege Güven is a professional with significant expertise in project management, marketing, and event coordination. She graduated from Sabancı University’s Faculty of Management in 2021, following her education at Özel Çamlıca Bilfen Anadolu High School.

After graduation, she took on various roles in sales, marketing, and event management at Kolektif House, where she led key projects in event sales and social media management, further honing her organizational skills.

In 2023, Ege joined Ege Bilim Schools as an administrative and marketing manager, where she continued to develop her expertise in the education sector. She has specialized in branding within education and social responsibility projects.

In addition to her professional career, Ege Güven carries a passion for sports and social activities. She is the founding captain of Sabancı Seahawks Flag Football Team and one of the founders of Sabancı University Sports Club.