2010 Board
Executive Board of Directors
One year term, starts April 2010, ends March 2011
Feridun Bek
President
Feridun (36) is a Turkish-American-German, who was born in Munich. He is a Global Executive, working for a management consulting firm, who supports multibillion dollar companies with developing business strategies, strategic plans and their project implementations. He worked for Volkswagen Group Headquarters Germany and wrote the first “Sales Organization Handbook,” which was distributed to over 100 countries. Also, he developed a Management Analysis concept which had a market value of over $750,000. He wrote diverse articles and acted as speaker in different conferences, such as he represented the German Chamber of Commerce in the Turkish-German Economic Convention in İstanbul with educating “How to improve trade between Europe and Turkey.”
Feridun is currently the Treasurer of ATAA and the Co-chair of the ATAA National Grassroots Committee. In the past he acted as the ATAA Co-Chair for the Armenian Research Committee. He worked with the ATAA team and created the strategic plan “Vision 2023” to deal with the Armenian Issue. He joined the last ATAA delegation trip, where this strategic plan was reviewed with Turkish officials. The target is to set-up a professional team and processes in ATAA regions that educate, inspire and coordinate the Turkish-American community to proactively deal with the Armenian issue.
Furthermore, he is currently a board member of ATA-DC in Washington, DC, (www.atadc.org) and a trustee of TACAM in Michigan. He served for six years in the Executive Board of the German/European Atatürk Association (www.he-add.org and www.ataturk.de). He supported and organized the biggest events in Germany, such as conferences with well-known speakers, republic balls, trips and acted as the moderator at these events and presented the Turkish Community many times in the media. He was the Public Relations manager of the Turkish Theater Group “Umran Ertok” for three years and one of the founders and a BOD of the Turkish-German Student Organization ITEA (www.itaeonline.de).
He studied Business Administration of Management in Germany, UK and Turkey and has a post-degree in commercial information technology. He has a Master’s degree for Management from the “Frankfurt Business School of Finance and Management” (Germany) and holds an Executive MBA degree from the “Henley Reading University” (UK).
Feridun is married with two children and they will relocate at the end of May 2010 back to Detroit.
Güner Sarıoğlu
Vice-President
Long before becoming a Turkish-American, Güner was born in Munich spending his early years in life in Germany. Not knowing he himself would become a “Gurbetçi” one day like his parents Güner started his education in Eskişehir, Türkiye where his family settled after “Kesin dönüş”. Graduating from Anadolu Üniveritesi with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering he started his career as a research assistant at the same university.
Moving to the United States in 1996 Güner graduated from the Ohio State University with a master of science degree in electrical engineering in 1998 from where he moved to beautiful Michigan for a career in the automotive industry. Güner is currently heading the Exterior Electronics Systems department at Magna International developing new camera vision technologies for automotive safety applications.
Married to Beyza for 13 years, Güner is the proud father of daughter Melodi. An active member of the Turkish-American community in the greater Detroit area, Güner most enjoys the outdoors, biking and jogging.
Berk Köprülü
Treasurer
Berk Köprülü was born in Ankara, Turkey. Due to his father’s job he spent most of his childhood in Saudi Arabia where he also stared his elementary education. The Köprülü family moved to İstanbul in the mid 80s for Berk and his sister’s education. Berk started his career in Arthur Andersen İstanbul, and moved to Michigan in 2001 to pursue his education at Central Michigan University (CMU). During his education he also worked as a graduate assistant at the Finance & Law Department. After graduation, he continued his career in the finance field within the automotive industry mainly performing audit and due diligence work for M&A projects. Currently he is working as the Audit Manager for American Axle Inc responsible for the global audit function. Berk is a Certified Internal Auditor.
During college he wrote for the Young Entrepreneur Magazine at İstanbul University and served as the President of the MBA Association at CMU. He is also involved in several professional organizations in the Detroit Metro area including Theiia and Isaca. His hobbies are sailing, windsurfing, soccer and collecting books about Turkey and Turkish history.
Berk earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from İstanbul University, and MBA from Central Michigan University.
Tim Tucker
Secretary
Born and raised in Michigan, Tim grew up in the Detroit Metro area of Pontiac. Over the last 20 years his professional career included entrepreneurship of a maintenance firm for over 6 years and then a transition to professional career in the automotive industry. Having worked at and for several transplant firms, Japanese, French and German, Tim visited Turkey through an invitation to attend a wedding in the İzmir area. It was during this vacation in 2007 where he met his wife Cansu at her family’s restaurant Bizim Ev Hanimeli in Selçuk-İzmir. They married and in 2008 settled in Michigan and now have a son who was born June 23, 2009.
Tim will receive his BBA in Marketing June 2010 from Baker College and continue studies in Finance to validate his professional experience and support long-term professional goals.
It is Tim’s desire to utilize his personal and professional international experience to build increased awareness of the unique Turkish culture in America and to develop opportunities for enhanced relationships in the community both locally and internationally.
Board of Directors 2010 – 2011
One year term, starts April 2010, ends March 2011
Adnan Ateş
Adnan Ateş (48) is a Turkish-German, who was born in Bursa,Turkey.
He studied Mechanical Engineering at Fachhochschule Heilbronn in Germany.
He started his professional carreer in Germany at ITT Automotive and later he relocated to the US in 1996. His employment at Valeo took him to Juarez MX for 6 years. In 2005 he found his way to Michigan where he is currently working for Continental Automotive in Program Management function.
Married to Nilüfer for 26 years, Adnan is the proud father of daughter Emine and son Yavuz.
Özlem Falkiewicz
Ümit Menemenci
Sümer Pek
Sumer Belbez Pek, M.D. Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, acts as a biomedical scientific consultant to the BBC. He was born in Ankara, Turkey, He graduatd from American Robert College in İstanbul, followed by the University of Munich Medical School in Germany. He received training in Internal Medicine and in Endocrinology & Metabolism at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in the specialty of Internal Medicine and in the subspecialty of Endocrinology & Metabolism; his clinical practice includes the broad field of endocrinology and diabetes. He has extensive basic and clinical research experience, culminating in more than 100 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. For over forty years, his research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), various foundations and the pharmaceutical industry.
He is internationally recognized as a researcher on signal transduction in the endocrine pancreas and on cellular biology of pancreatic islet hormone synthesis and secretion. He is the recipient of 1996 Scientific Achievement Award of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Turkey. He is one of the founders of the NIH-funded Michigan Diabetes Research & Training Center at the University of Michigan. He has been a member of the Metabolism Study Section of the National Institutes of Health for many years, as well as of scientific review boards of various foundations. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous prestigious scientific journals, and as an editor of Endocrinology, a journal of the Endocrine Society. He has assisted the pharmaceutical industry in the design of clinical drug trials and has acted as the safety monitor for drug trials. For many years, he has been actively involved in human research subject protection, and has been a member and later on the chairman of the Institutional Review Board for Human Subject Research of the University of Michigan Medical School.
Mehmet Yaya
Mehmet E. Yaya is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University. Before coming to Michigan, he has completed his masters at Auburn University and doctorate at the University of Alabama. He is from İstanbul and received his bachelor’s degree in International Trade at Boğaziçi University. He is currently teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in International Trade and Labor Economics at EMU.
Dr. Yaya has been actively involved with Turkish organizations back in Alabama and recently with TACAM. He was the founder of Turkish Student Organization at University of Alabama and a member of Turkish-American Association of Alabama. He has joined the Grassroots Outreach Program of TACAM recently. Board of Directors is his first position at TACAM.
Board of Trustees
Two year term, end-year alongside name
Cenk Hepaktan 2012
Cenk arrived in Michigan in ’95 for a one-year internship with AIESEC — a cultural exchange program — through which he also had the opportunity to visit a school every Thursday and gave presentations of Turkey and Turkish culture to students in the Livonia School District.
Born and raised in Izmir (except for a 3-year high school period in İstanbul), Cenk earned his undergraduate degree in computer science from Ege University, MBA from Wayne State, and is currently attending Lawrence Technology University for his doctorate in business administration. Currently working as a global product strategist developing analytical solutions for automotive clients, Cenk has been working in consulting roles for the last 12 years.
As a first-year TACAM member, Cenk is very excited to have the opportunity to take an active role. He believes the true measure of success for all of us, as the TACAM community, is to get Turkish organizations elsewhere in the States referring to TACAM's contributions and impact in promoting cultural-understanding and saying "if a handful of Michiganders can do it, why can’t we?." Please help us make it happen!
Alev Küsefoğlu 2012
Gökhan Özalp 2012
Gokhan Özalp (39) was born and raised in Ankara. Gokhan completed his college education at Hacettepe University, Chemistry department. Later, he continued his higher education at Eastern Michigan University to earn an MBA with a specialization in International Business Management and MSIS from the same university.
Professionally, he worked as a developer, technical lead and finally as a project manager in the medical device software industry. Gökhan is an expert in critical embedded software systems and their safety analysis.
Gökhan was involved with TACAM for more than 10 years as a volunteer and in 2009 decided to take part in the board of directors.
Hurol Ulupınar 2012
Hurol Ulupınar was born in İzmir Turkey. He completed his elementary, middle, and high school studies in various cities in Anatolia due to his father’s occupation. He earned his first undergraduate degree in electronic engineering as a PLC expert from Sakarya University and his second bachelor’s degree in computer information technology from Siena Heights University.
In September 1995, Hurol met his wife Özgün Gunduz when he was a student at Sakarya University. They began dating later that winter, became engaged in 1999, and were married on June 24, 2002.
Hurol has been working for Coritech Services for three and half years as a software developer. He is an accomplished software engineer, specializing in .Net development and analysis with extensive experience in the full life cycle of the software design process — including different designs and proof of concepts.
Hurol Ulupınar was elected in 2009 as TACAM treasurer. His mission will be to build bridges with other American ethnic communities. Hurol believes in dialogue, in emphasizing our common values as Americans, and in the peaceful and civilized solution of conflicts.
Beste Windes 2012
Born and raised in İstanbul, Beste earned a degree in Public Relations from the University of İstanbul in 2002. She worked in export marketing for several years dealing with international clients.
In 2003 she met her husband Jason, a Michigan native, while he was working in İstanbul. 3 years later, in 2006, they decided to move to Michigan and attend graduate school. Beste is currently a full-time honor student at EMU in the MBA program with a concentration in International Business.
She is also actively involved in several university associations, helping organize events and conferences, as well as fund raising for social causes. It is Beste’s desire to actively contribute to the cultural, social and economic prospects of Turkish American society.
Serkan Özdemir 2011
Serkan Özdemir was born in Witten, Germany in 1977. He graduated from İstanbul Technical University (İTU) in 2000, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Serkan was involved in several student organizations during his university education. He was a member of the Engineering Orientation Club in which he organized numerous activities such as field trips, career days, concerts and student festivals. He played a major role in establishing the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) student chapter and TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats) ITU-Section.
Following his graduation, he started to work as a Project Engineer at TRW Automotive in Germany, where he specialized in NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness). After 4 years service, in 2005, he was transferred to TRW Headquarters in Livonia, Michigan. His current position is Lead Product Engineer, responsible for NVH research and development of vehicle brake systems. He is fluent in Turkish, German and English.
Serkan has been an active member of TACAM (Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan) since 2006. He was elected to the Board of Directors for the 2006-2007 term and served as the Vice President for 2007 – 2008 term. He recently was elected again for Vice-President position for 2008 – 2009 term.
Audit Committee
Two year term, end-year alongside name
Ferid Ahmed 2012
Ferid Ahmed is recently retired from the convenience store business after nearly twenty five years. He is currently employed part-time as a substitute teacher in the Anchor Bay (New Baltimore) school district.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan he graduated from Cass Technical H.S. in 1964 and later from Eastern Michigan University.
He is a veteran of U.S. Army having served two years from 1967 to 1969. He is married to Leylâ Ural and has two sons Murat and Erol.
Didem Şeyhoğlu 2012
Didem Şeyhoğlu was born in İstanbul. She completed high school education in Üsküdar American Academy and then graduated from İstanbul Technical University in 1997, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She recently received her MBA degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Didem came to the US first in January 1999 as part of a foreign assignment from Ford Otosan in İstanbul. Her assignment duration was one year; however she accepted a job offer at Ford Motor Company at the end of the assigned time and has been living in Michigan since then. She’s currently still employed at Ford Motor Company as a Lead Product Design Engineer, responsible for design and release of safety / restraints systems in truck programs.
Didem has participated in the executive board of many non-profit organizations in the past, recently in TACAM. She has been an active member of TACAM since 2004 — she served as the Treasurer for 2006 – 2007 term and as the President for 2007 – 2008 term. She recently got elected again as the President for 2008 – 2009 term. As being very proud of her Turkish heritage, she takes it very seriously to volunteer in TACAM activities to promote Turkish culture and traditions. She believes that it’s extremely important to ensure that the Turkish community remains intact through its own customs. She sees it as a responsibility for Turkish-American individuals to introduce our culture to others and advance the image of our country among other nations. She also has worked very hard during her presidency to ensure proper representation of Turkey in public affairs arena, keeping close ties with Turkish and American media to promote Turkey. As committed to the Turkish community here, Didem will work hard during her presidency to ensure TACAM meets its historical, cultural and financial goals in the best possible way.
Mine Özalp 2012
Birsel Küsefoğlu 2011
President Emeritus
TACAM president for 2009 – 2010
Leylâ Ahmed
Development & Marketing (Non-Board)
Developers of the Anatolian Voice and Web site
Facebook
Keep up-to-date with special news and offers through our social network.
Connect with us on Facebook ›
Twitter
Just tweeted — michiganturks: 2010 TACAM Survey - http://eepurl.com/KzXF
Follow us on Twitter ›
New York Times
Recently written — “Cameron Urges Change in Gaza ”
More news about Turkey from The New York Times ›