The Nafi Atuf Kansu Award was presented to our faculty member Dr. Yeşim Ozansak Topcu.

The Nafi Atuf Kansu Educational Science Research Award was presented to its recipients at a ceremony hosted by TED University. This year’s thesis award was presented to Dr. Yeşim Ozansak Topcu, a faculty member at Istanbul Aydın University’s Faculty of Education, for her work titled “The Role of Mathematical Content, Teacher, Student, and Classroom Interaction in Shaping Productive Classroom Discourse.”

The annual award ceremony held in honor of educator, politician, and writer Nafi Atuf Kansu was attended by the Kansu family, TED representatives, academics, researchers, and numerous guests.

Prof. Dr. Bahar Gökler delivered the opening speech on behalf of the Kansu family. Recalling the contributions of her grandfather, Nafi Atuf Kansu, to the field of education, Gökler said, “As a young teacher, my grandfather opened up new horizons for Turkish education with his innovative educational practices at the schools where he worked.” Sharing insights from Kansu’s life, Gökler emphasized that she took his love for his country as an example and concluded her speech by saying, “I bow with respect before the memory of Nafi Atuf Kansu, one of the cornerstones of the Turkish National Education Revolution who made significant contributions to the modernization of education, and I pledge before you all that I will forever respect the legacy he left behind.”

Award in Thesis Category to Dr. Yeşim Ozansak Topcu

The selection committee decided by majority vote to award this year’s Nafi Atuf Kansu Educational Research Award in the thesis category to Dr. Yeşim Ozansak Topcu. No awards were given in the article and book categories this year. Prof. Dr. Aykut Kansu presented the award to Topcu.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Topcu expressed a deep sense of pride and responsibility, stating, “Standing at this podium is a great source of excitement for me. I accept this award not only as a recognition of my work but also as a responsibility. Being deemed worthy of this award, named after Nafi Atuf Kansu, an important figure in the history of the Republic who guided education and illuminated the future, deeply honors me. Thank you for reminding me of this awareness.”