Abdullah Atalar was born in Gaziantep, Turkey, in 1954. He received B.S. degree from Middle East Technical University, in 1974, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University in 1976 and 1978, respectively, all in Electrical Engineering. His thesis work was on reflection acoustic microscopy.
Stanford PhD Diploma
From 1978 to 1980 he was first a Post Doctoral Fellow and later an Engineering Research Associate in Stanford University continuing his work on acoustic microscopy. For 8 months he was with Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto, engaged in photoacoustics research. From 1980 to 1986 he was on the faculty of the Middle East Technical University as an Assistant Professor. From 1982 to 1983 on leave from University, he was with Ernst Leitz Wetzlar (new Leica), West Germany, where he was involved in the development of the commercial acoustic microscope. During 1980-1987, he was a consultant for Aselsan.
In 1986 he joined the Bilkent University as the chairman of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department and served in the founding of the Department where he is now a Professor. In 1995-1996 he was in the Ginzton Lab of Stanford University on a sabbatical leave. He has served as the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs between 1996-2010 and the Rector of Bilkent University between 2010-2022.
TUBITAK Science Award
He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on analog electronics, analog and digital IC design, power electronics and microwave electronics. His current research interests include micromachined sensors/actuators and passive/active microwave circuits. He received the Science Award of TUBITAK in 1994. He was elected a fellow of IEEE in 2007. Since 2022 he is a Life Fellow of IEEE.
He is married to Ayşe, and father of three: Sinan, Okan and Baran.