Prof. Dr. Cengiz YILMAZ
Video: Times Higher Education 2018
Professor Cengiz Yılmaz has graduated from the Business Administration Department of Hacettepe University in 1991. After receiving an MBA degree in 1995 and a Ph.D. degree in 1999 in the area of Marketing from Texas Tech University, he lectured in several US and Turkish Universities in topics related to Marketing, Competitive Strategies, and Advanced Research Methods. He worked as a faculty member at Boğaziçi University between 2002 and 2011. He worked as a faculty member at the Business Administration Department of Middle East Technical University between 2011 and November 2020, and then as a faculty member at the Engineering Management Master Program (M. Sc) of İzmir Institute of Technology until he was assigned as a Rector of AGU in May 2021. During this period, he also performed as the Vice Rector of Abdullah Gül University on temporary assignment in the last four years. Professor Yılmaz also held membership at the Advising Committee for Social Sciences at TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Council of Turkey) between 2012 and 2017.
His research interests center upon marketing strategy, competitive processes, new products and firm innovativeness, factors affecting firm performance (particularly SMEs), and customer relationships. His research has been published in several scholarly journals including Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of World Business, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Risk Research, International Journal of Advertising, Service Business, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, International Small Business Journal, International Journal of Innovation Management and Innovation: Management, Policy and Practice, among many others. His works has received more than 3500 citations from internationally prestigious sources. He is the author of “The Rabbit and the Tortoise: An Analysis of Competition” (Dogan Kitap) and a co-author of “Mobile Marketing; Fundamentals and Strategy” (McGraw-Hill).
Professor Yılmaz provides consulting support to several corporations, government offices, political parties, and civil society organizations via special projects and other means. Professor Yılmaz has recently specialized in high-tech entrepreneur startups and provided mentorship and consulting services to a multitude of startup firms. He is a board member at AGU TTO A.Ş. and a recepient of the most supportive faculty member award from the ODTÜ Teknokent A.Ş. In addition, during his post as the Provost at Abdullah Gül University Professor Yılmaz has focused specifically on the design project of The New University Model and has contributed to the idea generation phase of the new university system in several international platforms, including the Times Higher Education Summit in 2018 on the Societal Impact of the Higher Education System, which he participated as an invited speaker.
In addition to his academic studies, professor Yılmaz has also undertaken several administrative posts at universities. Included among such posts are Manager of the Revolving Funds Entrprise (Gebze Technical University), Department Vice Chair (Bogazici University), Memberships at Faculty Boards and Faculty Administrative Boards (Bogazici University and Middle East Technical University), Department Chair (Middle East Technical University), Dean, Consultant to the Rector, and Vice Rector (Abdullah Gül University).