Sirin Tekinay’s new chapter

Dear colleagues, 

Warmest personal regards from Bay Area in California to each of you. I have recently relocated here, after a decade in Istanbul, where I served our board the longest, starting in 2015. In January 2020, as many of you may know, I  became the first woman Dean of Engineering in the United Arab Emirates (I later found out, in the entire Arab world). I have left my post of Dean of College of Engineering at American University of Sharjah after a year of crisis management like we all needed to, in a new and challenging environment. 

I now hold an affiliate professorship with my Alma Mater, George Mason University, and membership on several boards. I continue to serve as the Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), and x-officio member of the Executive Committee of International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), which, of course, SEFI is a member of. After I chair the GEDC Industry Forum in Dresden (September 20-22) and the IFEES/GEDC Annual Conference in Madrid (November 15-19), I will step down and to the right as the Immediate Past Chair of GEDC on GEDC Executive Committee for another year. 

My second term as member of the SEFI Board comes to an end in October. I have been proud to serve with you all, and will step up to the opportunity to do so any time I’m called on to help with anything I can, towards SEFI vision and mission; especially in industry relations, diversity, and globalization. 

Let me take the opportunity to thank each of you for all the comraderie and dedication. I am, and always will be, proud of my association with SEFI. 

Fond regards, 

Sirin