Mrs. Suna Kıraç was awarded an Honorary PhD degree at Boğaziçi University

July 15, 2008

Dear Rectors, esteemed members of the Kıraç and Koç Families, distinguished guests, distinguished members of the press, dear colleagues and dear students; welcome to our Honorary Doctorate Ceremony. We are gathered here today to confer an "Honorary Doctorate" on Mrs Suna Kıraç, upon the recommendation of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Boğaziçi University and the approval of the University Senate. The reason why Suna Kıraç, whom most of us know as an industrialist and business person, is worthy of the title of Honorary Doctorate of Boğaziçi University is the extraordinary importance she attaches to education in addition to her very busy and successful business life. This award is given to Suna Kıraç in recognition of her significant and unique contributions to education across the country, in different fields, at different levels and on an increasing scale.

It is an extremely rewarding and honourable duty to talk about the importance of education, and especially to emphasise the importance of the contribution made to education, in an educational institution, especially in one of the country's most prominent higher education institutions such as Boğaziçi University, and I have the pleasure of doing so in your presence. The root of education lies in raising human beings and investing in the individual development of human beings, because education shapes the soul of society as it is passed on from generation to generation. Suna Kıraç believed that education is one of the most important factors for the development and prosperity of our country, and therefore devoted a great deal of time to education. She assumed important responsibilities for quality and equality of opportunity in education, and she helped to realise many pioneering project ideas and worked actively for the realisation of these projects. Education is expensive, but there is something more expensive than education in the world, and that is lack of education. With half of its population under the age of 35 and a still very high birth rate, education is the most pressing problem of our country, and as Suna Hanım put it, "Economic difficulties can be overcome, political crises can be resolved, but it is not possible to repair a society whose children have been wasted. Instead of expecting everything from the state or anyone else, everyone should join hands for education to the extent of their means. Education is too important an issue to be left to the state alone."

Already in the 1980s, Suna Kıraç recognised that the country's most pressing problem was education. For Suna Kıraç, education was the only key that would unlock tomorrow; education meant horizons, vision, self-confidence, efficiency and quality. One of Turkey's structural problems was its lack of trained manpower. Suna Kıraç believed that this could only be solved with a modern and high quality education, but it was necessary to fight for this. Suna Kıraç said, "I am determined to live and struggle in this country; I want to be one of those who are criticised, not one of those who criticise; I have decided to be one of those who do things, not one of those who talk", and embraced education with the seriousness and discipline she had acquired from her professional life. For Suna Kıraç, the first condition of education was to have a competitive and qualified content that prepared students for the world. Within the framework of this approach, she developed the idea of Koç High School. The mission of Koç High School was to define the ideal citizen rather than a school student: It aimed to develop the intellectual and humanitarian qualities of students to become self-confident, moral, leader-like and responsible young people for Turkey and the world. The high school experience was a very different experience for Suna Kıraç; she realised the weaknesses of the Turkish education system and what needed to be done. These experiences played an important role in the maturation of Koç University and the idea of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV). "Catching up with the age and keeping up with it can only be achieved with well-educated, clear heads; a well-defined, well-measured, modern national education policy is required. Only in this way will the young generations of Turkey be well educated and embrace the principles and reforms of the Republic. For this, both the state and the private sector should allocate money for this purpose. The nature of education is continuity, so the cost of a modern education system is very high." For Suna Kıraç, there should be no limit to the support for education: The money earned in this land should be spent for the people of this country.

"True education consists in giving the best of oneself." (M. Gandhi)

Suna Kıraç, who sincerely believed that the way for Turkey to reach a healthy social consciousness was through education, and who foresaw that financial contribution alone would not be sufficient to ensure that education in Turkey reached a modern level, and who fought for this cause spiritually and with her whole self at the forefront, undoubtedly followed Koç High School and Koç University with her giant project, the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. In order to eliminate inequality of opportunity in education, Suna Kıraç, together with like-minded business and scientific people, pioneered the establishment and organisation of Turkey's largest volunteer education army in 1995. With the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey, the out-of-school education of children aged 7-16 in 82 locations across Turkey has turned into a social movement. Today, the donors of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey have exceeded two hundred thousand. For the first time in Turkey, a foundation has reached this number of donors. The number of direct volunteers of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey has exceeded ten thousand. Education Volunteers, of which Suna Kıraç is the honorary president, has provided education services to more than one million children to date. Suna Kıraç continues to increase her ideals of education. In addition to her contributions to Koç and Galatasaray Universities, she supports the establishment of a research laboratory in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Boğaziçi University in 2005, which she pioneered to ensure the universal success of health sciences. A life dedicated to education Suna Kıraç is a pioneer, a leader, a wise person who sets an example to society not only with her knowledge but also with her behaviour, value judgments, meticulousness, sense of duty, uncompromisingness and tolerance. We are honoured to present the "Honorary Doctorate" degree of Boğaziçi University to Ms. Suna Kıraç, who was awarded the Galatasaray Education Foundation Medal of Honour in 1995 and the State Distinguished Service Medal in 1997, as well as a number of other awards. Suna Kıraç believes that the bright future of this country lies in education, trusts the youth of the country and knows that the education to be given to these young people will constitute the most important resource of Turkey. We salute Mrs Suna Kıraç as Turkey's leading Education Volunteer, the Education Mother not only of İpek Kıraç but also of hundreds of thousands of Turkish children, the role model of young people from all regions and levels of Turkey, and we would like to thank her for being with us today. Mrs Kıraç, we share your ideals with all our hearts, and we are here today to show that we are ready to share them. We wish you to accept this award as a proof of this.

Education is too paramount of an issue to be left to the state alone

You are not alone on your journey to understand ALS, Mrs. Kıraç.

Fortunate those whose ideals are greater than their lives.