Fahamettin Akıngüç, Master of Civil Engineering, was born in Istanbul on January 8, 1926. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Eskişehir and entered the Graduate School of Engineering in 1943. In 1950, he graduated from the faculty of civil engineering of this school, which was turned into Istanbul Technical University while he was studying. After completing his military service, he worked as an engineer and chief clerk at Istanbul Technical University Project and Construction Department for two years. Later, he founded his own company, and by 1960, he had carried out contract work for a large number of facilities in the construction sector.
In 1960, he founded the Kültür College in Istanbul, one of the first private schools of the time, and he continued his career in the education sector thereafter.
Fahamettin Akıngüç proved that his engineering education at ITU could also be successfully implemented in the education sector. By introducing the innovations and dynamism of private entrepreneurship to the education sector, he rose to prominence with “student-centered” personal planning and implementations in order to create a modern human being out of the “student material” in his schools.
After the year 1980, he created Kültür Schools Community by founding Kültür 2000 College, in addition to the existing Kültür College, later two primary schools, two high schools, one science high school and six pre-schools. In 1989, he founded the Kültür Educational Foundation (KEV) with his family and started the foundation process of Istanbul Kültür University. Istanbul Kültür University was founded on July 15, 1997, under the patronage of Istanbul Technical University. Fahamettin Akıngüç held the Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees until 2009, when he left his post to Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver. He is still the Honorary Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at this university.
Fahamettin Akıngüç has approached problems, resolutions and applications in the education sector by utilizing the systematics of engineering, and the novelties and innovations he has realized to this end can be summarized as follows:
Akıngüç has proposed a student-centered education as the main philosophy of educational activities. He has approached education as a process of change that needs to be planned according to the personal characteristics of each student and has directed and developed educational practices at his schools accordingly.
He has initiated "guidance" services for students for the first time in the education sector. He has also employed psychologists within his schools for the first time, has had them observe the progress of students and their problems scientifically, and has implemented a system of sending parents reports about these matters periodically. Taking into account the key role that the teacher plays in students’ educational success, he has sent groups of teachers at his schools to training programs abroad in a planned manner in order for them to increase their experience and knowledge in teaching practices. He has established a "Development Center" at his schools, in order for the teachers and administrative staff to improve themselves and has had academicians from various departments of other universities teach courses and seminars at this center throughout the year.
Believing that another important element of educational activities is the educational material, he had a magazine titled "Ünitelerle Beş Yıl" (Five Years with Units) published for years, first for elementary schools. In addition, he has initiated a magazine titled Yaşadıkça Eğitim (Lifelong Education), which is still being published, in which educators of all levels write articles.
As a follow-up to these innovative and pioneering activities in the education sector, he started to bring together the private education institutions in our country under a single roof, and he acted as the President of the Private Schools Association for many years. During this period, he initiated collaborative work with the Ministry of National Education at all levels, aiming to raise the standards of education at private schools and to institutionalize the practices. To observe the developments in the field of education around the world, he has frequently visited elementary and secondary education institutions personally or with education administrators at his schools to view educational systems in almost all developed countries. He has tried to implement at his schools the innovations he has observed in areas ranging from art practices to student organizations, from mental and sports practices to foreign language teaching.
As an ITU graduate, he is known as the "connoisseur of education" in the National Education community for his 50 years of work in the education sector. As a matter of fact, Turkey’s İş Bankası published a book in 2007 titled “Eğitim Mühendisi – Fahamettin Akıngüç Kitabı”(Education Engineer - A Book on Fahamettin Akıngüç) narrating the life story of Akıngüç.
Fahamettin Akıngüç was awarded a memorial plaque in the year 2000 by the ITU Rectorate for his 50th anniversary of graduation. Moreover, he received the "Silver Bee 2008" award in 2008 for his contributions to the construction of the student dormitories on Ayazağa Campus.
Fahamettin Akıngüç has given an exemplary model by applying his engineering training to the education sector. He has trained thousands of precious young people for the Turkish society by devoting his entire life to education.
