We Hosted the “Homecoming 2025” on Our Campus

Özyeğin University alumni, their families, and members reunited on campus for the annual Homecoming on October 4, 2025.

Hosted by our President Prof. Barış Tan, the event began with faculty meetings and networking activities. They were followed by a panel discussion titled “OzU and Artificial Intelligence: Smart Steps from Today to the Future” moderated by Süha Soydan, Özyeğin University Entrepreneurship Support Programs Manager and featured Prof. M. İrşadi Aksun (Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact at Özyeğin University) along with OzU alumni Gizem Atasoy (Data Science & Al Manager at Prometeia) and Furkan Arslan (Counterfake, Founder). The panel highlighted our university’s efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its curriculum and become a world-class, pioneering interdisciplinary research and education center in this field. The contributions of artificial intelligence to entrepreneurship were also shared during the panel, where our alumni panelists shared their experiences and engaged in a lively conversation.

Another panel entitled “OzU’s Future” was moderated once again by Süha Soydan, with the panelists Hüsnü M. Özyeğin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Özyeğin University, and our President Prof. Barış Tan. Greeting the audience, Hüsnü Özyeğin said, “When we established this university, I put the overall happiness of our students at the very center. So far, we have achieved this mission by creating an all-encompassing university campus in every sense, aiming for global standards in education, and prioritizing student activities. Each year, we welcome very successful students into the OzU family, and we will continue to do so. We excel in our goal of ‘educating graduates not only for our country but for the world’ every single day. Seeing this reflected in the valuable work done by OzU alumni I am meeting in every country I visit makes me so proud.”

Greeting all OzU alumni and their families, our President Prof. Barış Tan, stated that within the first year of his presidency, he has proudly observed that every aspect of the goal set by the administration to become a “Entrepreneurial Research University with High Global Impact” has been deeply integrated into the university structure. Prof. Tan said, “Our university, with all its academic and administrative units, is dedicated to student transformation and the excellence in education and university experience. Moreover, we aim to be an entrepreneurial research university. This goal involves both innovation and the necessary encouragement for putting ideas into practice. I see that our alumni, academics, administrative staff, and students have the desire and will to do what no one else has done. We coexist and thrive together in a happy and highly connected environment. We aim to further increase our impact in all areas.”

After the panel, Mr. Hüsnü Özyeğin and our President Prof. Barış Tan presented awards to our individual and team athletes who brought OzU high-level achievements both in national and international competitions during the 2024-2025 Academic Year. The 2024 alumni placed their custom-engraved logs on the Alumni Wall. Throughout the day, stands with the entrepreneurial flavors of our graduates are served in the Upper Quad area. Following veteran artist Ali Poyrazoğlu’s delightful “Asi Kuş” (Rebel Bird) stand-up show, the Homecoming 2025 concluded with an upbeat musical performance by DJ Fatih Ayvaz.