OBITUARIES
Obituaries for RC Alumni
Nicholas Popov RC 33
Died J u n e 26, 2 0 0 6 at his h o m e in N e w m a r k e t ,
s u r r o u n d e d by his family. After R C , he went on to receive
his m a s t e r ' s degree f r o m P u r d u e University in 1935. From
1935 to 1978 he w o r k e d as a m e c h a n i c a l e n g i n e e r with
B a b c o c k & Wilcox Co. based in New York City. A f t e r retiring
he w o r k e d as a c o n s u l t i n g e n g i n e e r for eight y e a r s with
C h a r l e s T. Main in B o s t o n . He m a r r i e d Elizabeth Miller in
1939. They raised four children and enjoyed 59 years of
m a r r i a g e . Mrs. P o p o v died in 1998. An active v o l u n t e e r in
N e w m a r k e t , Mr. P o p o v s e r v e d on many town boards and was
a d e d i c a t e d v o l u n t e e r at the N e w m a r k e t E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l
as well as being a longtime c o n t r i b u t o r to the N e w m a r k e t
Public Library.
Mr. P o p o v enjoyed traveling and could s p e a k fluently in
at least six languages. The RC c o m m u n i t y in the U S A was
happy to see him attend the RC alumni reunion in Boston in
February 2 0 0 6 .
He is s u r v i v e d by three of his children D o b r i n k a N. Popov,
Peter N. P o p o v and C h r i s t o p h e r N. P o p o v as well as five
g r a n d - c h i l d r e n .
Güzin Berkmen ACG 34
Güzin B e r k m e n was
born in Istanbul in 1914.1
After attending the
Ecole de Notre D a m e
de L o u r d e s and the
English High S c h o o l ,
she e n t e r e d A C G ,
g r a d u a t i n g in 1934 as
Güzin S a b r i . S h e then
studied English
literature at Istanbul
University. In 1936 she
m a r r i e d K e n a n Yalter,
RC '32, and had two
daughters, Nil Yalter
A C G ' 5 8 and idil Yalter
A C G ' 6 3 , who s u r v i v e her. Her brother, Ali S a l i m B e r k m e n ,
1928-1992, g r a d u a t e d f r o m RC in 1949.
Güzin B e r k m e n taught English at v a r i o u s high s c h o o l s in
Istanbul and ultimately retired f r o m Istanbul University's
Yabancı Diller O k u l u . She also w o r k e d in the USIS Library.
In addition to translation work and writing poetry in both
Turkish and E n g l i s h , she spent m u c h of life giving private
lessons in Turkish to foreigners and in English to Turks.
D i p l o m a t s f r o m the UK, France, Israel, Y u g o s l a v i a , The
N e t h e r l a n d s , G e r m a n y , G r e e c e and S w e d e n were a m o n g her
s t u d e n t s . S h e also taught b u s i n e s s m e n , journalists,
h o u s e w i v e s and o t h e r s f r o m c o u n t r i e s as far afield as
C o l o m b i a , M a l a y s i a , R u s s i a , J a p a n , A u s t r a l i a and the U S A .
However, she is best r e m e m b e r e d for t e a c h i n g many UK
c o n s u l a r and military p e r s o n n e l , several of w h o m went on to
b e c o m e a m b a s s a d o r s , s u c h as Sir Kieran P r e n d e r g a s t and
Sir D a v i d L o g a n , and who r e m a i n e d her g o o d friends.
As a result of her long-standing c o n n e c t i o n s with the
British d i p l o m a t i c world, she was granted an h o n o r a r y M B E
by Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h the S e c o n d in the y e a r 2 0 0 0 . Güzin
B e r k m e n died o n A u g u s t 2 6 t h , 2 0 0 6 .
Ibrahim Bodurgil RC 35
Died on A u g u s t 7, 2 0 0 6
at the age of 94 in his home
in B e t h e s d a , W a s h i n g t o n
D.C. He was a retired
specialist at the L i b r a r y of
C o n g r e s s , retiring in 1984
after 45 years as Head of
the Turkish and A r m e n i a n
s e c t i o n s of the library.
The following are
excerpts f r o m his obituary
that ran in the W a s h i n g t o n
P o s t .
"Mr. B o d u r g i l , was born in
Istanbul and grew up in the
village of R u m e l i Hisarı.
After WWI, his father b e c a m e a g a r d e n e r at Robert
C o l l e g e . The y o u n g Bodurgil was admitted to the s c h o o l
and d i s t i n g u i s h e d himself as a c h a m p i o n javelin and discus
thrower. He received his b a c h e l o r ' s degree in e c o n o m i c s ,
with honors, in 1935.
He s e r v e d with the Turkish a r m y during World War II and
then worked for 20 y e a r s at the A m e r i c a n C o n s u l a t e in
Istanbul as a press attaché, gaining m u c h respect and
national r e p u t a t i o n .
In 1959, he i m m i g r a t e d to the United S t a t e s with his wife
Eliza and s o n , E d w a r d . He joined the L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s ,
where he was responsible for the A r m e n i a n C o l l e c t i o n in the
N e a r East S e c t i o n of the A f r i c a n and Middle E a s t e r n
Division of the library. He built up the Turkish and
A r m e n i a n c o l l e c t i o n s at the L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s as well as
a u t h o r i n g several texts on Turkey. These included "Turkey:
Politics and G o v e r n m e n t , 1938-1975" and " K e m a l A t a t u r k : A
C e n t e n n i a l Bibliography, 1881-1981." He also s e r v e d as an
o c c a s i o n a l Turkish interpreter for the White H o u s e and
federal a g e n c i e s . Tours with N A T O , a p p o i n t m e n t s to
transalate for P r e s i d e n t K e n n e d y and J o h n s o n , work for the
UN and Voice of A m e r i c a r o u n d e d out his professional
career. However, his position with the L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s
was the focal point of his attention and energies.
S u r v i v o r s include his wife of 60 years, Eliza Bodurgil of
B e t h e s d a ; a s o n , Edward B o d u r i a n of B e t h e s d a ; and three
g r a n d s o n s .
Prof. Dr. Feridun Özgür RC 35
Prof. Dr. Feridun Özgür
g r a d u a t e d f r o m Kabataş
E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l and
then f r o m Robert C o l l e g e
in 1935.
A f t e r c o n t i n u i n g his
a c a d e m i c studies in
E n g l a n d for a while, Prof.
Özgür g r a d u a t e d from
Istanbul University Faculty
of E c o n o m i c s in 1942.
During his junior year, upon |
getting an offer from O r d .
Prof. A l f r e d Izaac, Prof.
Özgür started working as his assistant and c o n t i n u e d his
a c a d e m i c studies with him for almost 13 y e a r s . Prof. Özgür
b e c a m e a full professor in 1960 after which he c o n t i n u e d his
a c a d e m i c c a r e e r at the Istanbul University Faculty of
E c o n o m i c s until 1967. Together with his six friends, Prof.
Özgür f o u n d e d the Faculty of B u s i n e s s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,
w h e r e he w o r k e d as a faculty m e m b e r until his retirement in
1982.
A m o n g his many a c h i e v e m e n t s , two s t a n d out as the
most significant. Prof. Özgür was one of the f o u n d e r s of the
first m o d e r n G r a d u a t e B u s i n e s s S c h o o l (Istanbul University
B u s i n e s s E c o n o m i c s Institute) in Turkey and he also
p i o n e e r e d in the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of the a c c o u n t i n g v o c a t i o n
in Turkey. Until his retirement, Prof. Özgür c o n t i n u e d
t e a c h i n g financial and cost a c c o u n t i n g c o u r s e s at the
Faculty of B u s i n e s s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and the B u s i n e s s
E c o n o m i c s Institute, which has been highly prominent in
e d u c a t i n g Turkey's b u s i n e s s m e n in the last 50 y e a r s .
Prof. Özgür s e r v e d as a visiting professor at H a r v a r d
B u s i n e s s S c h o o l during the 1962-1963, and at A l a b a m a
University and New York University during the 1970-1971
a c a d e m i c y e a r s .
B e t w e e n 1972-1974, Prof. Özgür s e r v e d as the Dean of the
Faculty of B u s i n e s s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , as well as the Director
of the B u s i n e s s E c o n o m i c s Institute. He c o n t i n u e d t e a c h i n g
at Eskişehir A c a d e m y of E c o n o m i c s and C o m m e r c e between
1963-1978, and at Şişli E c o n o m i c s and C o m m e r c e A c a d e m y
between 1964-1970.
Prof. Özgür, who was the c h a i r m a n of the Financial
A c c o u n t i n g D e p a r t m e n t for 15 y e a r s published two books:
" F i n a n c i a l M a t h e m a t i c s " and " P r i n c i p l e s of A c c o u n t i n g " .
Prof. Özgür, who was fluent in English and G e r m a n , was
m a r r i e d , had one child and two g r a n d c h i l d r e n . He was one
of v e r y few g r a d u a t e s of Robert C o l l e g e to see both his
brother, his niece and her two chilren (Mithat Özgür ' 4 5 ,
Füsun Özgür Madra'77, Aysel M a d r a ' 9 9 and Mithat
M a d r a ' 0 4 ) and his s o n and g r a n d s o n graduate from Robert
C o l l e g e . (Nuri Özgür '70 and Eren Özgür ' 9 5 ) .
H e died o n J u n e 23, 2 0 0 6 .
Margaret Kamburoğlu Nomal ACG 39
P a s s e d away on O c t o b e r 3 0 t h ,
2 0 0 5 . She was always proud of
being a student at A C G . An avid
s p o r t s w o m a n , her n u m e r o u s a w a r d s !
won in s p o r t s d e c o r a t e d the walls of I
her h o m e . S h e was an an h o n o r
s t u d e n t every year she was at RC J
and c o n t i n u e d her studies at
istanbul University, Faculty of
English L a n g u a g e and Literature.
L a t e r o n , she w o r k e d as an English
t e a c h e r at istanbul University for 34 years.
B e s i d e s her career, she was also a d e d i c a t e d h o m e m a k e r
and a mother. She also w o r k e d tirelessly for the
e s t a b l i s h m e n t of several N G O ' s as well as being a m o n g the
f o u n d e r s of T u r c o - A m e r i c a n University G r a d u a t e s
A s s o c i a t i o n and the Gülhane L i o n s C l u b . She c o n t r i b u t e d
actively, s e r v i n g on its boards in v a r i o u s c a p a c i t i e s .
M a r g a r e t N o m a l is s u r v i v e d by Yusuf N o m a l and her
d a u g h t e r Deniz Denker as well as a g r a n d s o n E r d e m who is
a student at H E V Kemerköy Okulları.
David Rosenstein RC Eng 46
Died in M a r c h 2 0 0 4 at the age of 8 0 . His wife Lya
R o s e n s t e i n wrote to inform the R C Q of his death and said "I
must tell y o u how proud he was of Robert College . H e
a p p r e c i a t e d the beautiful s c e n e r y and locale of the College
and kindness of his c l a s s m a t e s and Turkish people in
g e n e r a l . "
Ayser Özgen ACG 69
Died in Istanbul on J u n e 25, 2 0 0 6 . Her f r i e n d s m o u r n
the passing of their c l a s s m a t e who they d e s c r i b e d as
modest, c a l m and tolerant with a distinctive smile .
Hüseyin Avni Arcan RA 70
P a s s e d away o n S e p t e m b e r 20, 2 0 0 6 .
After R A , A r c a n finished ODTÜ (Middle
East Technical University) in 1975, where
he studied Metallurgical E n g i n e e r i n g , and
got m a r r i e d to his wife S e r m i n the s a m e
year. He w o r k e d at P a r s a n for a s h o r t
stint before c o m p l e t i n g his M B A at
N o r t h r o p University in the U S A . His work
e x p e r i e n c e s included E m e k S i g o r t a , AIG,
S G S and was most recently at 7 Tepe
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