This issue has been dedicated to Prof. Dr. Olgun Güven

This issue has been dedicated to Prof. Dr. Olgun Güven

Dr. Olgun Güven was born in Kars on 1947. He completed primary, secondary and high school educations in Ayvalık, Balıkesir. Olgun Güven received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, graduating in 1970 and 1973, respectively. He joined Hacettepe University as a research and teaching assistant in December 1971 and obtained his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemistry at Hacettepe University, graduating in 1977. Dr. O. Güven worked as an IAEA Fellow at Grenoble Nuclear Research Center in 1982 and as a Fullbright Research Associate at the University of Maryland in 1982-1983. He has been working as a full professor at Hacettepe University since 1988. His research interest involves a variety of areas such as polymer and radiation chemistry, radiation processing, synthesis and applications of hydrogels, novel adsorbents, and advanced macromolecular architectures such as well-defined functional polymers, etc.

As a brilliant scientist, Dr. Güven has been always at the forefront of progress in polymer and radiation chemistry and processing community. Dr. Olgun Güven has been working in the field of radiation chemistry, and radiation processing for more than 40 years. Worldwide he is considered by colleagues as a true giant in the field of radiation polymer chemists. His recent ideas on how to apply radiation to control radical polymerization is one of the hottest topics today. In Turkey, Dr. Güven has been instrumental in introducing radiation technology. In 1994 the first Industrial Gamma Irradiation facility located in Ankara. In 1996, the second Industrial Gamma Irradiator which is owned by GammaPak, located in Istanbul. And in 2001, Dr. Güven was the technical consultant for the first Industrial Electron Accelerator installed in Bursa. Olgun Güven was Technical Officer in charge of promotion of radiation technology in the Member States of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1996-2003. He served as an IAEA expert on many technical missions throughout the world. Dr. Güven continues to serve the community by being the editor of Radiation Physics and Chemistry; at the same time he is a very valued reviewer and chosen for the most difficult cases. As a result of his great worldwide contributions to Polymer and Radiation Science and Technology, he received IMRP 2011 Laureate Award for his “Leadership in Advancing the Technology and Business of Radiation Processing” by International Irradiation Association, Canada. He also received Sedat Simavi award in Natural Sciences (1984) and Distinguished Scientific Achievement Prize of Hacettepe University Senate (1994).

As a professor at the Hacettepe University, he has been teaching general, physical and polymer chemistry for more than 30 years. He has been the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific articles. Many international symposia and meetings have been organized and chaired by Dr. Güven, most notably the 9th International Meeting on Radiation Processing (IMRP), September 1994, Istanbul, Turkey and the 7th international symposium on “Ionizing Radiation and Polymers” IRaP2006, September 2006, Antalya, Turkey.

He has played a very active role in training and mentoring young people on polymer chemistry. Throughout his career he has made significant technical contributions, demonstrated leadership in advancing polymer science and technology and investing in the next generation. He has been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels and been the advisor to more than 70 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students throughout his academic carrier. Among his graduate students currently 15 are working as full professors, 3 as associate professors and 1 as assistant professor in various universities all over Turkey, and 2 assistant professors abroad. He is well-known for his generous attitude and kindness, which without doubt accounts for his effectiveness as a mentor and champion of polymer chemistry and radiation processing.

Further details can be found in the detailed Curriculum Vitae on following pages.