Officials of UALR and the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, recently signed a new agreement of cooperation to promote joint education programs and research, exchange students and faculty, and engage in cultural cooperation.

Dr. Jerry Stevenson, associate vice chancellor for international affairs, and Dr. Coskun Bayrak, professor of computer science in UALR’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, this summer to sign the agreement.

“The agreement we just signed with YTC in Istanbul makes it the 32nd foreign university located in 20 different countries around the globe that our students can choose to attend starting now,” Stevenson said. “Global understanding is one of UALR’s top priorities in our strategic plan and we know from research that study abroad and international exchanges are transformative for students.  I would like to be a student again and have all of these great opportunities.”

YTU is the third oldest university in Turkey with a distinguished history dating back to 1911 and has more than 25,000 students enrolled in its 10 colleges and various institutes.

The new agreement kicked off with two undergraduate students from YTU arriving at UALR to conduct research under the guidance and tutelage of Dr. Olga Tarasenko, assistant professor of biology.

Dr. Kenan Aydin, a business professor from YTU, will spend the next 12 months as a visiting professor in the Department of Marketing and Advertising under the sponsorship of the chair of that department, Dr. Jane Wayland.